Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2010-08-21

This morning I rode at Whiting and Webster Park... again. I outfitted my muni with a Cateye Velo 5 cycle computer.

I've been measuring my mileage and average speed using GPS, but I've wondered how accurate it is. I configured the Cateye wheel size by rolling it out and measuring it with chalk marks on the driveway. I got 80-1/8" with no weight. Interestingly, when I sat on it and compressed the tire, I got 78". I just did some math and over 15 miles, the difference gets close to about 1/2 mile. I actually took another 1/2" off, expecting more tire compression on the trails.
According to the Cateye, I rode 15.1 miles. My GPS said 14.3 miles. I think the CatEye would be more accurate because the GPS would cut a lot of corners and has inherent inaccuracies. So I'm gonna go with the CatEye. 15.1 mile muni! My new record!

I also brought along a Hammer Raspberry energy gel pack. Is that a uni on the package? ;-)

After about 1-1/2 hours of riding, I usually have a snack of something like some gummy fruit chews. But I wanted to see if one of these gels allowed me to ride and eat at the same time, and gave me any extra energy in the later part of my ride. It was easy to ride and eat once I got to known flat area, and it did the job of keeping me from getting hungry, but I didn't feel like it made a difference in my energy levels over any other snack. My muscles and arse got tired towards the end of my ride just as usual. I rode further, but I've been riding farther each time anyway.

Coming down a small rooty hill I've done a bunch of times, I took a tumble. Somehow I didn't see a root and I pitched forward. In an instant I was on my hands, then back, then front, sliding about 15 feet down a rooty hill. I remember feeling/hearing my CamelBak as it scrapped down the hill (nice back protection) and I remember being on my front, worried a bit, as I slid down to a few feet before the wood planks crossing the muddy valley.
My left thigh/buttock hurt, and as I stood up I found the muscle was stiff. I grabbed my uni and limped up the opposite hill. I was pretty happy not to have any huge gashes or broken bones. But the side of my butt was killing me. I sat down for a good five minutes and things improved a lot. My leg wasn't as stiff and I was good to ride. My muscles in the area just didn't want to move after being hit so hard. But after my rest, I was able to ride another two hours.
Once I got home, I assessed my damages.
My shoulder got some abrasion, and my arse.


My most major accomplishment of my ride was making it up the hardest hill on the Orange trail at Whiting! So now I've made it through the entire Orange trail both ways. Later, I failed on the same hill, but it was late in my ride and I was very fatigued.

I also made it through a hilly, very rooty section in Webster Park. The best part was having a group of about five older people chatting right in the middle of it. They made room for me. I was impressed they didn't get panicky like some people. A woman said something like, "Gotta stay focused on the trail!". I guess she recognized that I couldn't look at their faces, and the difficulty of the trail. I think they might be Friends of Webster Trails though. One of the men said, "You gotta have balls to do that... and good balance." It's always cool when the encounters happen during a challenging section and I succeed.
The trails were busy. Lots of youth running and dog walkers with the usual positive comments. I saw one mountain biker who said, "No way! That's so cool!"

Muni at Whiting and Webster Park - 2010-08-21