Beach Ride in FL

I guess this qualifies as offroad riding.  I slogged out approx 12 miles of beach riding on Alligator Point in Panacea, FL last week on Thursday.  Wow!  That is a mega-workout!  That 12 miles actually had my muscles sore the next day and it has been quite some time since I last was sore from riding - good times.  I rode right on the shore line within inches of the surf to stay on the "hardest" sand and it worked quite well.  There were only a few places where the structure of the sand was too low to support my weight and I really had to push to keep momentum.  There were also a few moments with the trailabike on the beach:

Tractor pull

We celebrated Sterling's B-day early on Sunday with Grandma & grandpa. We gave Sterling an Adam's Trail-a-bike and he seemed happy with it, but since it was Sunday, we didn't go for any long rides or anything and he really didn't mention anything about it until today when he asked if we could go for a ride today after school. I told him yes and tried to slip out with him incognito, but Ginger is always quick to notice any furtive activity around the back door and sure enough, we were busted. She came out in tears knowing that she was getting ditched - it was too much and I buckled. The result:

This bike is currently set up for Jessica (women's saddle, low seat) and I just went ahead and rode it as is...ouch! With the saddle being that low, it was a killer on the knees and apparently my keister is not well-suited to women's saddle design. After viewing these pics that Jessica took, I think Sterling's seat was too low as well. I'd figure we prolly rode a couple of miles (maximum) in an out and back, but it was real punishment.

The seat post on the Trek (pictured above) is a 26.9mm diameter and my Ellsworth has a 31.6mm. That seemingly insignificant difference makes it so that I need to order a new collar for the trail-a-bike to get it to work on my Ellsworth. After today's ride, I can tell you that I will be ordering that part very soon. I want to try to take Sterling on a real trail or two - once we get him a good helmet.

Back to Erwin Park

Is this getting monotonous?  Last night, I slipped in a loop at Erwin Park in Mckinney, TX again.  Things there are starting to feel a lot more 'comfortable.'  The little drop that pops up to surprise you when you round a corner - no longer a surprise.  The little climb that catches you in the wrong gear - ready for it.  That tight corner that pretends to have a smooth exit, but actually has a small sapling growing right in the exit path - ready for it.  

The trail itself was in fine form.  No dust, no mud, just a hardpacked dirt that must resemeble what it would look like if there was a concrete singletrack path going through the woods.  I passed a single jogger and saw only one other mountain biker who started a few minutes after me and pulled into the parking lot as I was leaving.

This was my first ride in over a year on my old Marzocchi fork and dissappointingly, I beleive that it will never be the same.  I have been riding a Rockshox Psylo for quite a bit while I worked on getting around to taking my Marz into the shop.  I finally got it into Plano Cycling and Fitness where I was glad to hear that it needed only to have it's oil changed.  They did that, but it is still the same.  It feels as though the damping is only working at about 1/2 capacity - just a big spring on the front of the bike.  I have to admit though that I still like the Marz with its extra inch of travel better than the Psylo.  Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be looking for a new fork here...it will be a Marzocchi.