Minor Hiatus

I haven't been riding as much as I'd like. Over the past few weeks I haven't been feeling too great. Maybe I haven't totally recovered from a cold I had about three weeks ago, or maybe I have some allergies, or maybe it's just been too hot.

I didn't ride at all this weekend, and so, I didn't race at the Fat Tire festival on Saturday. I'm glad I didn't register, it would have been a waste. Saturday I felt pretty crappy. And it was pretty hot and humid outside.

I've been riding on some evenings in the neighborhood. I ride in high gear and Sydney has ridden her bike along side me. Sometimes she even says "slow down!"

I'm still practicing shifting on the fly. I moved my pedals from the 150mm crank holes to the 125mm holes. This moves my heels so they're inline with the shift buttons. This makes shifting 10 times easier. Hopefully I can learn to shift smoothly this way, and then move my pedals to their normal arrangement later.

Dryer Race Course

This morning I went to Dryer again. What I didn't mention last Sunday was that I more or less rode the course planned for the the Fat Tire Festival mountain bike race.
Many mountain bike races welcome muni riders. Obviously the idea isn't to compete to win, but just to participate and have a good time.
In this race the riders do a number of laps based on their skill level. Beginner - 1 lap, Sport - 2 laps, Expert - 3 laps. Experts start at 9:00am, Sports at 9:05, and Beginners at 9:10.
Being a slow rider, I don't like this setup. It means that I'll get lapped by a bunch of riders. Dryer is all single-track, and it will be a pain to dismount, step aside, and allow riders to pass. On downhills, they'll come barreling down, coasting, skipping over the roots and rocks with their full suspension bikes while I'm braking, picking a path, and flailing my free arm around.

Last year's Fat Tire race had the same riding classes but had a different course. I haven't ridden that course, but I know the trails and it's pretty comparable to this year's course. Looking at last year's results, figuring average speeds, and using the ~50 minute time I get on this year's course, I figured I'd get passed by about 30 expert/sport riders. I'd still finish with the slowest two or three beginner riders. My numbers are just estimates, but I think they're realistic enough.

Bikers are going to be passing other bikers a lot, so it should be an expectation. While I don't want to get in anyone's way, the bigger problem is that passing bikers will be getting in my way. Obviously I don't care much about my time, but if I'm dismounting 30 extra times it will cut out a lot of fun. Especially when those dismounts are in places like the downhills.

I have a several days to decide if I want to race. I'm still thinking about it, but I might just wait for a race without such tight laps. Dryer's a pretty tough place to ride too. If I'm going to join in a race, I might want it to be on some less hilly trails.

Muni at Dryer - 2010-07-11

Fun at Tryon

Almost a month and a half ago I did some riding at Tryon and captured some video. I finally got around to editing it:

First Guni Ride at Whiting

I rode this morning at Whiting Road Nature Preserve and across the street at the Midnight Trail on my geared uni (guni). There were only a few puddles even after yesterday's torrential downpours; a testament to the hard work the Friends of Webster Trails has done.
I tried shifting into high gear when I knew there was a fairly flat trail. But it was easier said than done. And when I succeeded, it usually made me UPD. It's like I'm riding along and then something just grabs the wheel, because riding suddenly gets 50% harder. I probably need to be riding much faster. It doesn't help that it takes me a dozen attempts, and I never know which one is going to be successful. Once I do get going, I feel like I'm learning to ride all over again. My arms flail and I keep falling out of balance. When I do find my balance, the speed can get scary, especially as I'm falling out of balance. I look forward when I can just shift and ride in high gear without so much effort.
Downshifting is much easier. Pedaling just gets easier and I keep riding.

I've been trying to build up my stamina/endurance by using my elliptical machine. I think it's working because today's ride went very well. I went about 9 miles on trails and I felt like I could have done more. Even after hill climbs (successful or not) I wasn't too out of breathe to keep riding.

Muni at Whiting Road Nature Preserve and Midnight Trail - 2010-07-10

Schlumpf Shifting

Tonight I concentrated on riding and shifting on the fly. It's tricky, trying to knock a shift button with my heel at just the right moment in my crank rotation. Again, I'll have to make a video to demonstrate how it works when I get a chance.
Getting the shifting to actually work is tough, but then you have to suddenly adjust for the way the uni rides. It takes me anywhere from 1 to 10 tries to shift. But I am definitely making progress.
I found my muni riding shoes worked better than my sneakers. But if they covered my ankles, that would be even better.

Schlumpf Wheel

Today I picked up my new geared wheel from Freewheelers bike shop! Roger, the owner, runs the shop alone and has been in the bike business forever. I used to shop at his store over 20 years ago when it was on Culver Rd! He did a fantastic job building my wheel. I gave him 229mm double butted spokes to use, but he found that 227mm would have been ideal. I couldn't find that length in butted spokes. Hopefully the wheel will hold up fine though.
I put the wheel in my uni tonight and rode a bit in the neighborhood. At first I couldn't even get it going in high gear. It just felt crazy weird. But after about three tries I started to get the hang of it.
I'll have to post a video of how it works. But basically I can now ride as normal, or shift to higher speed. It's 1.5 faster. So for every 1 crank rotation the wheel rotates 1.5 times. I haven't tried to shift on the fly yet.

Happy 4th of July!

Like any typical American, I celebrated Independence Day with a muni ride. I beat the heat and was riding before 9AM at Dryer. Despite my congestion still lingering from a week long cold, I was able to ride just fine. Still, I cut my ride a bit shorter than usual.

Muni at Dryer - 2010-07-04