The Humps and Bumps of Single-Track Bicycling Seems to be Getting Bigger?

All pictures taken with an i-phone.
It is hard to make the pictures look as a steep as they are.
All the bumps I have ridden in the past.

                                                                  Taking pictures gives me a chance to take a quick rest.

Little rises on the single-track seem to be getting bigger and harder to ride up. The legs give out sooner, I chicken out a little sooner, and I like to ride when it is dry out. Getting older and training little, does have a few drawbacks.
Muscles that hurt after riding? Hmm? Legs both quads and hams, tris and biceps, lower back and stomach, hip flexors and butt, rota-tor cuff muscles and the hands. Who says that MTB does not use all the bodies muscles? If your hand eye coordination, and balance are not good, you are headed for a wipe out. I sure do not remember having those kinds of aches in a by gone era!

All pictures are were taken inside a city with a metropolitan population, of over a million people. In fact less then a 15 minute bike ride from my house are where the first pictures are taken.
The fall colors are beautiful so get out and enjoy. I am going to drink some milk, and take a power nap!

Bicycle Riding and Wiping Out

The other day while out riding on some trails that I have ridden in the past I made a mistake and ended up flying through the air with the greatest of ease. I was climbing a steep hill with a steep side slope to the right. My one leg that does not bend that well did not give me the power I needed, and my handlebars turn to the right and went over the lip just a little. I somehow ended up bailing on the left side of the bars fell down the hill about 6-8 feet before sliding down the hill on my butt. I used the arm to protect and fling the bike away from me. I slid several more feet as I squeezed my back muscles as I hit a tree with my back. Thankfully I was wearing a small day pack which helped. It was all in slow motion but there was nothing I could till I came to rest. My feet were uphill when I came to a stop. I swung them to the downhill side and scrambled back up the hill on all fours. My wife who was running ahead of me did not answer, as she did not know what had happened, and did not hear me call either.



The picture above does not show the steepness of the hill but this is where it occurred near the top of the trail.
As I get older I take less chances(chicken) and go on slightly easier trails. However if I do that what is the adventure in that though I do not want to get injured either. I may just have to get off and walk a bit more though I will still be sucking air as I walk up the hill pushing the bike. My children and wife tell me I am getting older and need to be more careful. It is so annoying to not be able to ride up or down hills I used to do easily. The muscles are weaker, the body less flexible, the body weight more, and fitness not as good. But it is so nice to get out and enjoy the nice crisp air and the smell of leaves and dirt, even in the middle of a million city population.

Saddle Sores

For the first time in over 5 decades, I have saddle sores. After a 3 hour slow ride, I noticed the pain, but still had to ride back. The skin was raw, red, swollen  and it hurts!
One of my saddles was ripped and I bought a Specialized $100 saddle on sale, that was recommended to me by a friend, who had ridden on one, for tens of thousands of kilometers, literally.
Unfortunately, I discovered the hard way, that my perch bones were narrower, then what this saddle provided. So I had just been lucky, that all the previous saddles on my many bikes, had all been narrow enough for me. Talk about learning the hard way.
So please do yourself a favor, and check out that the next saddle you buy, is the right one for you!!
I have now been off the bike now for 10 days and counting. I am using Polysporin, and it seems to be working.
I have switched to roller blading with ski poles, which I would have done soon anyway, to get ready for the cross- country ski season.
Ah, life is such a learning experience!

Picture is taken at the beginning of the Iron Horse Trail which is part of the Trans Canada Trail at Heinsburg Alberta Canada

Well I am back on the bike, after 12 days of being off. Just a few leaves are falling yet, and the riding conditions have been dry. This is great for a fair weather rider like me. As much as I would like to ride more then an hour, I will resist for another week or so to let the saddle sore skin area get stronger again. I installed my prehistoric Brooks Pro leather saddle with mega a miles on it, that has been retired for a while now. Using it for MTB, I am not sure if that is a good plan in the long run, but I will see.

Biking has slowed down

Well just an update that explains that why I have not done more cycling.

I took my MTBike into the shop, and $300 later, I managed to afford, to retrieve it. I must say it does shift a bit better and the shock movement seems to be ok.

There was also a few weeks of rain that as a fair weather rider I stayed dry, i.e., no riding.

For the first time in many years I also had a problem with 2 flat tires in a row. I suppose I will get around to looking at my road bike and get that sorted out.

Road riding is so boring; unless of course you count scary drivers on the roads, and those 'dog walkers', grr, on the bike paths as excitement.

That is it for now.

Cheap Poor Bike Tires

Be careful when you buy cheap fold-able bike tires.

The bike tire bead has been bent for a long time in the box and has rough edges. Over time, even as short as an hour, the tube will be punctured as it happened to me twice on the same ride. I ended up hitch hiking home as I only had one spare tube. Kenda tire company is the one that I that I had trouble with. Also the tires are not uniform. Mounting and dismounting of the the tire and tube could be done with no tools, just your hands.

 Skip the $20 tires and go into the $40-60 dollar range. Well now I have to tire shopping, as all my 3 decade old tires, are cracking. Can you believe that?

Have fun, go ride.

Bike Commuting after a Half a Decade of not Commuting

Its been several years since I have bike commuted, but I decided to give it a go again. On my very first day, I got clobbered by heavy rains and HAIL. The hail lasted for almost 10 minutes and was about the size of large peas. I stopped under a tree and put on a jersey and then kept riding. The temperature felt like it dropped about 4-6C, and the bare arms did not like being pelleted. Later I checked for welts from the hail, but the arms were ok.
At many intersections, they were flooded with up to 6 inches of water. I tried to coast through the huge puddles, but had to take a few strokes with the pedals, going into the water. You had to be mindful of where the many potholes were. Since I was wet from head to foot,  it did not matter where you rode. I could not see through the water and so you had to take your chances. Avoiding the manholes, some of which were bubbling up water spouts, was another hazard. Slippery mud and gravel, that had washed away from somewhere, were potential causing flat tires and wipe-out conditions, that had to be dealt with as well.
At the more quiet flooded intersections, some neighbors were out with a shovel clearing the manhole drains of debris such as grass, seed and sticks.
By the time I finally got home, the rain had stopped and I was thinking of my more poor bike. Sure glad I do not have one of those cutaway bottom brackets. I shall have to lubricate everything in the next day or so.
Ah such fun, but I did finish the week commuting anyway. Weather, you just have to accept and go with the flow.
Till next time.

Another Bike Ride, from Home. #YEG

Biking continues as the weather has been dry, windy and pretty warm. Today I decided to ride straight from the house and hit some MTB trail that is a bit more used and worn in.

The trail is not so technical, but is more then enough for me, as my fitness levels continue to improve albeit slowly. The course is used locally and at the Western Canadian race level.

I almost always, at least have my I-phone with me, if not my DSLR camera, because I never know what I might see. So today I saw some big white birds(pelicans) as it turned out, on the river. With my bike I managed to gradually get closer and closer without disturbing them.

All pictures in this post were taken with the I-phone, opened and cropped in ACR and then I used auto Smart Fix in Photoshop Elements 9. Each picture takes about 40 seconds to do.

Well the river is about a 5-7 minute ride from the house and it is time to head home. Take the underpass Victoria Trail and one more climb, before I am home.

Well another ride is done, and I saw many different kinds of birds today, as they either fished in the river or soared far above.

New Single Track continues to be refined.

All pictures taken inside #YEG, Edmonton, and if you get technical, perhaps County of Strathcona  

This trail has magically popped up and some of it, I still have to hike rather then bike. Fitness, skill, and old age, (chicken) has has this trail beating me, but I keep trying.

Beginning of the Bicycle Season 2013

Yesterday for me, was the first time on the bicycle this season. I rode my bike, as my wife ran. With evident arthritis in the knees for the first time, I am not sure what sort of cycling season it will be. My right knee does not want to bend too much, but I was told by my doc to gradually increase my cycling time. I am just waiting for the temperature to warm up some.

This winter was awesome for x-c skiing, and so I am almost a month behind, getting on the bike. The snow in the bush is still deep, and that means a bit of road riding till the snow is gone. My love is trail riding. In my younger years I would have been gung-ho to get on the bike, but now I x-c ski or just wait till the conditions get dryer. I am now mostly a fair weather bike rider, I know a wuz.

The first thing I did was check the tire pressure on both the road and mtb bikes. After looking at my track bike I wonder when I will start using that bike again, if ever. I will keep it, as a new indoor Velodrome, is a possibility. Naturally the tires tubes had to be pumped up. My Cinelli foot pump is over 35 years old, and it will likely need to be repaired/replaced sometime in the next decade or so. LOL. Pumping the air up into the presta tire tubes, is a workout in itself, as more air escapes then what goes in, at times.

I will have to put the roof and bike rack on the car in the next day, or so as well. Before I do that, I will wash and wax the car, especially the roof, real well.

Well time to start the day and the decision must be made to try and find snow for x-c skiing, or go bike riding on the roads. Hmm?

Picture from Blackfoot Recreation area from last year. Just waiting for the snow too all melt.