Day 312 - Scratched

Went for a ride after I got home from work. Should have stayed home. The first sign was my battery on my iPod shuffle was dead. After a quick charge I headed out. About 1/3 of the way to the trails my front tire went flat. Second sign. I changed it and contemplated whether I should continue since I didn't have a extra tube. What the heck. On the trails I went. By the time I got to the trails is was nearly 7:00 p.m and only had 30 minutes of sunlight so I decided to try to do two or three laps on the Levy Run loop. Was finishing up the first lap and tried to climb the new drop from the Up and Over backward. Lost my balance and fell over on my right side. My arm scraped against a tree on the way down and scratched me up. See pic. Wasn't too bad so I keep on riding. Got home and took a shower to hide the evidence from my wife.

Day 309 - Mercedes Challenge

Drove down to Mercedes with morning with Tweezer and Ridehard to participate in the Mercedes Challenge, a 50K and 100K road tour and race. Originally we had talked about doing the 100K race, but we came to our senses and decided to do the 37 mile tour instead. I had borrowed Brian's road bike, since I don't have one. We road together with fellow Cactus Cruzers Nico, Gabby, Rosie, and Jack in a group. It was a moderate pace, spinning 16 mph for most of the ride. The last 10 miles were rough as we turned into and fought a strong headwind to the finish line. We finished the ride in 3 hours.

Day 307 - Too Many Frosties

Had one too many frosties at our bicycle club meeting last night and was paying the price. Was dragging throughout the day. Felt like a zombie. The walking dead. When I got home I didn't even feel like go riding. It was Thursday, our group ride day. Even though I felt lethargic, I decided a little physical exercise might do me some good. So I called up my buddie Ridehard and we met up at Mission Trails. We rode at a good, fast pace. Not too fast, but enough to get my blood pumping and circulating through my system. We ended up riding 11 miles. Felt much better after the ride. It was just what I needed.

Day 301 - Road Trip!

Road Trip! It's been over a year since I had taken a biking related road trip, so I was excited to be taking a day trip with my buddies Tweezer and Ridehard. We met at 4:30 a.m. in McAllen, loaded up and hit the road. Our destination was Bandera, Texas, 30 miles west of San Antonio. We arrived in Bandera at 9:30 a.m. and started riding. The trails were loose, rocky, technical. It was some tough climbing. Some parts of the trail were so steep that we had to push our bikes up. The descents were crazy too. I punctured the front of my leg on a bush while going down one. I bandaged it up and we rode for another 3 hours and then headed back to O.P. Schnable Park in San Antonio. O.P. was totally different. Smooth and fast and rolling. It was a nice change of pace after a challenging morning. After O.P. we headed home. We got home at 10 p.m. Tired and exhausted. But happy. It was a great roadtrip. Here is some footage of Bandera.

Day 300 - Riding Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

I was off for Spring Break. Went out for a family bike ride with my wife and son at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in San Juan. We rode the loop that goes around the park. It is a paved path that is 8 miles long. We stopped a couple of times on the ride. We went up a 40 foot bird tower and walked across a rope bridge that put us up amoung the treetops. We stopped at the old cemetery that is in the park. It was made in 1847. We stopped to look at the ducks in the pond. We stopped to take pictures of the flowers. We finished the ride after an hour and a half. It was a nice, leisurely, family ride.

Day 296 - 30 Miles

Took off on a ride on early Sunday morning. Felt like stretching my legs so I jumped on my mountain bike and hit the road instead of the trails. Rode to UTPA in Edinburg. Once I got there I rode through the campus. Played around climbing and descending stairs and other obstacles for 30 minutes then turned around to start the trip back. I kept it in the big chain ring and little cog for most of the ride there and back. Very low cadence, mabye 60 to 70 revolutions per minute. Great strength and power workout. Fought a strong headwind on the final leg. When I got home I was spent. Did a total of 30 miles in two hours. Great ride.

Day 295 - Getting Some Bike Breaker

Rode with Tweezer at Mission Trails on Saturday morning. It's been a while since I had ridden the Bike Breaker. No matter how many times I have done it, it is always a rush. A 20 foot, 45 degree drop into and out of a ravine. I was more stroked about making the turn into the Bike Breaker for the first time. It's tough. First you have to climb in the granny gear up a 20 foot, steep and turning hill. What makes it difficult is is at the top of the climb you have to make a 90 degree, right turn into the entry of the Bike Breaker. The funny thing was I did it once but Tweezer was recording with the pocket cam so I had to do it twice. I wasn't sure I could make it two times, but I went for it and cleared it again. "Whooo...hoo!!" Here the video:

Day 293 - Night Riding on My Single Speed

With Daylight Savings Time scheduled to start on Saturday, we scheduled a last night ride of the season for our mountain biking club. Showed up and Jorge was on his bike ready to go. Unloaded my bike and put on my gear. No one else showed so we took off. I had brought my Cannondaele single speed. I hadn't ridden it in two or three months because of my back. I love riding it. No shifting. Just stand up and pedal and go. The key to riding is to keep your momentum and stay off the brakes. We had a good right. Not too fast. Or not too slow. Was feeling good and was standing and cranking more than I had done in a long time. Finished the ride by trying to climb the new Levy Loop Drop from the Up and Over. That turned out to be a mistake. I got about 1/5 of the way up and lost momentum and I toppled over in the dirt. What a way to end the last night ride of the season!

Day 289 - Getting Some Air

Got in a ride early Sunday afternoon with Tweezer. We rode most of the trail for a good hour and a half. Just as we were finishing up our ride into the parking lot we came across Roland, Jorge, Brandon, and two other riders getting ready to start their ride. We caught back in with them and rode some more. We came up to Jackhammer and hit the jumps. I took out my pocket camcorder and recorded some of action. Check out Brandon, the teenage kid in the red tshirt. That boy can sure ride and jump.

Day 283 - Recovery Ride

I was tired from the race on Sunday. So when my wife said she wanted to go ride mountain bikes, I thought it would be just what I needed -- a nice, easy recovery ride. We drove down to Anzalduas Park in Mission and then got on our bikes and rode a jeep road in Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. The jeep road runs parallel to the Rio Grande River. It is a scenic ride as you can see the river and the land on both sides of the river. We rode for two hours and by the time we got back my legs were spent. Usually it is my wife who complains, but this time I kept looking for the finish. I wasn't running my bike computer, but I estimate we rode at least 20 to 25 miles.