Monday, March 22, 2010

Mission Accomplished



Mission: First trail ride of the year
Date: March 22, 2010
Ride time: 1.5hours

After hearing that some of our friends had actually ridden trail at BHP this past weekend i just had to ride it for myself! 8 wonderful degrees of awesomeness (for this time of year), lack of wind, and nice sunshine made for great riding weather. The trail was nearly free of snow, and there were only a few sections of standing water. Albeit fairly damp and muddy, it was still drier than that infamous WNS race last summer.... the one with the funnel cloud, hurricane-like winds, falling trees, torrential rain... etc.... remember that one?

I capped my ride off with a quick 12k loop of the BHP loop. I was going for a fast cadence. I ran the loop at about 31km/h, not much to speak of, other than that it was on my single speed MTB with a 34/16 ratio! Yeah, I must have looked a little funny! Oh well... mission accomplished.

8 comments:

Coach Dave said...

Nicely done! SS dude are you serious? Race that dang thing! I race 38 or 40/16 at GB and 34/16 might do you proud. I hope to head out for some hard laps next weekend.

JP said...

Thanks Coach! Well, at least for now I think I'm serious about giving the single speed a real go... i really enjoy the way it feels and how my brain works differently. WOW... 40/16 is sure big! Does that make for any walking sections for you (baby's head climb?) or do you power thru everything? For me I even feel like 34/16 is big gear for BHP (still ridable though), i was quite happy with 32/16 last fall, but we'll have to see what it feels like when I'm not slowing down for squishy corner! Tough to tell average speed on the course this early in the season.

Kevin B said...

JP - the bike is looking extra stealth - nice!

JP said...

Thanks Kevin! It feels a little heavy but that's because I've been on my roadie all winter... have you hauled out the Moto yet?

Dave or Kevin- up for some laps on Sunday morning/afternoon possibly?

Anonymous said...

Dave is on 26" wheels J.P., so add two teeth to the back cog to get close.. yes it is still a huge gear.. I dunno how he does it.

I like to spin more, so I'm still figuring my G.B. gear.. I guess if it's not right, I'll learn... I know what works for me in BDN... but this years course will be hard to gear for, last year WAS the SS course year in BDN.

WV: paing - the sound my knees would make if I rode that gear.

Kevin B said...

Sunday - church AM - Steinbach PM for some family diner thing.

Would love to get out to BHP though, but not this Sunday I guess.

I have been out a couple of times on the Moto and loved every second of it. I am faster on that than on my cross bike... even with my mud tires on - stupid cross bike.

What about Saturday?

wv - supga

JP said...

Saturday won't work for me as I have to work all day... We'll make it happen soon! Thanks Kevin!

Kevin B said...

No worries, I did ride dry trails today and it was AWESOME. But also got a "booter" going through a rather long iced over puddle. But kept riding for another hour or so.

Next time.