A week and weekend full

I'm just now getting around to posting about what happened last weekend. That's how full my week has been. We're housesitting for my in-laws so on one hand it's like we're on vacation, with out leaving Nashville. On the other hand it a little bit of a pain a we have to go home to do somethings, then bring clothes over to their house and of course I always forget things in the process.

Last weekend we had some friends over for games and hot tub relaxing and then Sunday I got out and rode some gravel with the boys. Thad, Grant and Parker came out and we rode the old Fly loop. Grant needed a loaner bike so I rode my Quiring single speed for the first time and Grant rode my Crosscheck. The ride was a lot of fun and was a great experience for me on the singlespeed. All the gravel grinders I've done have been on my geared Crosscheck except Dirty Kanza and our trip from Joelton to Monty Bell.

Unfortunately a lot of the old loop has been paved but we did manage to find some new gravel. Thad's hoping to explore and find a few more miles of fresh gravel. I decided to bail out of the loop early and skipped about 8-10 miles. I was feeling good fitness wise but my sit bones were screaming at me. Looks like it's really time for a new mtb saddle. Between our weekend at LBL and my ride at Hammy last week, my saddle was creating some bruised sit bones. In hindsight I should have moved my Selle-Anatomica saddle over to my Quiring since Grant brought his own saddle.

My work week settled down after a lot of "maybe" work and I ended up with all Tuesday off. Then, like magic, Matthew P said he was going to Sewanee for the Woody's Tuesday shop ride and I joined in. I made the smart move of moving my Selle-Anatomica saddle over to the Quiring for this ride. We had a good size group, about 7 riders total. Matthew, Corey C and I came from Nashville and met Brian, Woody and a couple other guys at the shop. I got start the ride right from the shop and learn a few new ways into the trail.

The trail was wet in some sections but was in great condition. The soil is sandy on the mountain so it drains fast and even when wet, it's rarely muddy. We rode at a nice relaxed pace and just enjoying being outside. The temperature was borderline cold but not too bad with a baselayer and a windbreaker. The trail is quite technical in sections. There one part where there is a good size boulder you have to drop down and then of course there's a root placed right where your wheel will land. I saw it, considered it, slowed way down, leaned back and dropped it, then paused, leaned forward and endoed. First endo on the 29er, but it's possible. As happens to be frequently, my right leg managed to get stuck between the top tube and the handlebar that spun completely around. It wasn't a bad looking fall but it hurt enough to know my leg would bruise a little. I was able to ride it out and finish the loop which was at least another 10+ miles.

My leg had a little throbbing that would come and go but overall the pain wasn't that bad. Now that it's 2 days later, the pain is pretty bad. heh My knee is sore to the touch where the handlebar hit it, but it's also sore below my kneecap in my upper shin area. I'm hoping it will heal on it's own and nothing to drastic is wrong. Unfortunately off-the-couch Greg is now back on the couch again. I've been chilling all day today getting work done online and on the phone, while I lounge with a bag if ice cold peas on my knee.

I've got another session to work at Blackbird studios tomorrow, and then it's the weekend again. I don't have much planned and I know I won't be on the bike this time. I'm thinking of making it over to the Yazoo Tap Room one last time before they try make their permanent move to the Gulch area. Also planning to attend the Ride for Reading acoustic benefit concert saturday night.

Edit:
Back to the Sewanee ride. I have to say that my Selle Anatomica saddle was VERY comfortable on that ride. I was quite impressed. It was my first mtn bike ride on that saddle. I'd say it was the perfect saddle except it is hard to get your legs behind the saddle for steep decents, that may possibly lead to an endo. Bummer too because the comfort is amazing. So, I'm in the market for a wider than a Rocket-V saddle to use for mtn biking that is as comfy as the leather saddle, yet is easier to get behind.

When life gives you lemons, do as the Roman's do.

Is winter over yet? After this past weekend it sure looks like it's on it's way out. We just had the most gorgeous weather for 3 full days in a row! I'm not talking like a sunny winter day, but a full on 65 degree, full sun, day where it was impossible not to stay outside. So... when the email comes to go on an overnight mountain biking trip to LBL, what do you do? Prep the bike, pack the car and kiss wife goodbye! To say this trip was exactly what I needed is a huge understatement. I've been so cooped up this winter with projects, work, and 20 degree weather that I hadn't put more than 60 miles on any of my bikes since Jan 1.

Leaving Nashville never felt so good

So Thad rolled up to my house with JD the lead trail dog, and a 13 yr old Mad Max co-pilot and the caravan left for the hills of Kentucky, only an hour behind schedule, not bad. We met up with Parker up at Land Between the Lakes and immediately changed into riding clothes, got the dog ready and hit the road to the trail entrance. We were on the bikes less than 20 min after we arrived, dodging trees and trying our best to keep up with the hammer JD as he lead us through the North South Trail. Thad is training JD to be a great trail running dog so he was hoping to test his stamina and get him more accustomed to riding next to more cyclists.

"When are you guys going to be ready to ride?"

JD did awesome! We rode an out and back 17 mile route and he didn't flench and kept a great pace for the couch surfers like myself who hadn't been out on a bike in a while. We dropped him off back at camp and headed back into the trail to get some more miles in, this time heading the opposite direction as before, towards the North Welcome station. We rode the 5 miles or so to the parking lot and I was starting to really feel it. Thad and Parker wanted to do the Canal loop so there was not way I'd make it around so Mad Max and I turned around and headed back to camp. We got a respectable 25 or so miles in and had fun walking JD around the camp site and antagonized the local marsupial while we waited for the other J5Marsupial and Parker to get back.

Thad specifically asked for the marsupial campsite

We were all feeling great after the ride but hungry as all get out so a trip to Miss Scarlet's was in order. This place never disappoints. I went for the sirloin tips and a potato this time and it was great. Parker didn't know what he was getting into with his catfish and barely finished 1 of the two huge pieces of fish. Parker had to get on the road back to Nashville so we parted ways and went back to the camp to get a fire going and settle in.

Our fire making skills were all a bit rusty as we had to stop, knock it down and start all over again to get it started. To our credit no lighter fluid of any type was used. We'd all talked about doing a night ride and all brought our lights. I purposefully skipped the Canal Loop hoping to save my legs for a night ride but when the time came, I was still feeling pretty beat. Max had never experienced riding in the woods at night so Thad took him out for a spooky 8 mile jaunt. "Be back in an hour" He said. An hour and half later they roll up, all grins with tales of attempting to recreate the Blair Witch Project and gooey, nasty tubeless tire flats.

During this time I got to sit and relax in the camp, alone but for JD, the campfire and a bit of rye whiskey. It was heaven.... until there was rustling in the woods nearby. Gotta say, it's a bit creapy being alone in a campsite at night, even with an enormous dog. JD didn't even react to one of the noises I heard... did it really happen? who knows. :) It was a nice relaxing time to myself though. We called it a night relatively early and bundled up for the cold night.

Thad treated us to a great breakfast of coffee, oatmeal and toasted english muffins with peanut butter and honey. YUM! Max masterfully made a fire in no time flat show both Thad and I up all the while joking that no, he wasn't an eagle scout, he'd quit after cup scouts. After stuffing ourselves we suited back up for another trail ride with JD, retracing our first ride the day before. This time JD apparently found some inspiration and would not allow us to ride at a reasonable pace. He ran off the front the entire time, as Thad chased him down and Max and I just held on at any pace we could. This stretch of the North South trail has few hills and has a lot of great flow. We put in another 14 miles without really working that hard.

mmm coffee on the fire

JD doing Old English Impersonation

Off the couch on my first rides in the woods since last year and we ended up with 38 miles or so in two days. It was awesome. Exactly the R&R I needed and I'm already thinking about the next one.

Riding? no! Busy? yea!

Time is just flying by. Beth and I have been back in Nashville since the second week of Feb or so and have no out of town plans for months. It's a strange feeling. Right now it's great because we're excited to be able to participate in all the social activities being planned. I have a feeling that we'll get stir crazy though pretty soon...though our lives are changing in a couple months also, so free time will be a rare commodity.

It's strange, my calendar has been full since the day we got back from NYC. Awesome and amazing. I've worked 9 days at home too editing Radio liners for CRS week. It was fun to be able to do a lot of work at home and it also prompted me to re-evaluate my home-studio/office setup and do some rearranging.

New office setup, much better feng shui

Thankfully with all the recent studio work I was still able to schedule in some friend time and got to get out for a friend's birthday and also get to the Ride For Reading Work Day (Party) at their new headquarters. A big crew came out to help Mathew get his new building finished up. I bet we had 20 or more people come to help out. There was lots to do but we soldiered through and got a ton of it done. We got concrete walls cleared off and sealed, studs de-nailed, floors cleaned, electrical sussed out, lights installed, drop ceilings removed, drywall hung and even got started mudding the drywall. All the while we also had time to of course have fun, and eat some awesome lunch that was generously provided by Mathew's neighbor Cafe Coco Italian Kitchen.

I brought my still camera and my new Flip camera but didn't manage to shoot too much footage. I kept thinking I'd grab the camera later, but never did and I was a bit apprehensive about protecting it from harm in the commotion. Here are a few of the images I did get and a short movie of a walkthrough during the day.

The Man, Mathew Portell, doing the work himself!

Dan & Rick scraping off the residual wood paneling

Grant managed to get some solid work done, amidst his many fans calling him.

Rick found his way into some high places

Have You Seen Me?

Last seen before the Ice Age.....



eagerly awaiting the thaw....

A true weekend

22/365 Mountain bike in it's element
Originally uploaded by Chewieez

My weekend started a day early this week. Not that I really have any weekends. I'd say I generally work more on weekends than not or at least 50/50. This friday was an exception. I drove out to the Cheatham Wildlife Center/Harpeth River State Park for some nice gravel grinding. Some of the usual suspects came as well like 2009 Dirty Kanza finisher Jeff Scott, local BA Jim Simms and a new rider to gravel came out, Tim Denise.

They all were being harder-edge than me and rode from their respective houses to meet me at the Narrows parking lot. The weather was perfect for a day on gravel. Foggy, overcast, somewhere between cold and comfortable with a good wind. I setup the Quiring in it's Dirty Kanza setup even pulling out the 3rd bottle mount courtesy of gRant. 32x16 was the gear of choice for the locals of the area and thankfully I already had my Small Block8 tires mounted, a fav of mine on the gravel. It's like my bike knew it was going to get some gravel soon.

We hit the road quickly after the boys finally found me, patiently waiting in a different parking lot than the one Jeff told me to go to. We had to ride a little bit of pavement to the gravel but it passed quickly and gave us all time to catch up and ask what we'd all been doing since we last rode together, which was a long while for me. When we hit the gravel it was full on, rutted, muddy with huge dark puddles and some sections of thick, tire sucking gravel. The overall elevation isn't much in this area but the route we were on started up first, then after a little bit of flat, it was up more. We got the first big climb out of the way early and it thankfully wasn't long, just a small gut buster with some power tapping gravel near the top.

We rode the rolling hills expanding and contracting like an accordian. Jeff would show up and ride off the front, then wait on us, then Jim would do the same. This was only my second ride since before Christmas so I was just pacing myself and spinning a good cadence. The course was perfect to help ramp me back into riding shape. Lots of small rolling hills that keep your heart-rate slightly elevated but nothing to kill you.

Tim's new Misfit Fe steel ride...lookin' great with gravel grime

We did a couple out and backs which included a pit stop at the ranger station. We didn't see anyone else out in the park except 2-3 cars passing. I had to finish up by 12 so they rolled me back to the park entrance I had left my truck and they rolled on to finish their longer rides.

After my ride, I had plans to go and meet Mathew Portell and help him clean up the new Ride for Reading building. A few guys came out to help unload some donated books and shelves. Mathew and I had our water sprayers that we loaded up with a bleach solution and hit all the molded studs in the building. Ironically this building used to be the Roofer's Union and it apparently had terrible roof leaks. We worked for a couple hours and rewarded ourselves with a bit of beer...so far it was a good day.

Mathew and I ready for action

Today, Saturday, turned out to be another great day. I had grand plans of getting up early and hitting the road on the Crosscheck to ride down to Harpeth Bicycles liquidation sale. I figured about 1.5 hr ride and the shop opened at 9am. Well, I got out of bed at 7:30am, and it was crazy foggy at my house. So, I decided I didn't want to be rushing down a foggy Franklin Rd with not-so-careful Nashville drivers trying to get to a big bike sale. I did still go by car and showed up right at 9am to see at least 10 people hanging outside the shop, waiting to get in. Luckily there was no Walmart-style trampling to get inside but things were getting picked up fast and with authority. I mean when everything is 50% off, it's easier to make decisions for sure.

I brought a list of things I was looking for and was able to pick up a lot of smaller items. Bottle cage/power link/bartape, the essentials. I even scored a set of used tires for a steal that are in great shape and will work great for commuting. One thing I was looking for was some panniers for my new rear rack I got from my brother for Christmas. They only had one option there and I hemmed and hawed about it for awhile. I even left it on the wall and paid for all my other stuff. Well no one else was interested in it and it was just staring at me so I reconsidered it and thought, for the price, I was almost dumb to not buy it. So I did and threw it on the bike right when I got home. It's the Eleven81 City Limit bag which is all one piece and hangs on the rack.

After lunch I threw some random things in the panniers and hit to road to go hang with Dan at Eastside Cycles for a bit. I also got a pair of new Mavic shoes that I was eager to get cleats on and all setup. The trail & error part of getting new shoes setup is not something I'm fond of. The stopping and tweaking the angle of the cleat ever so slightly, the thinking while pedaling: is my cleat to far forward on my shoe. Ugh frustrating, but it's something I haven't had to deal with for over 4 years with my Sidis. So a shakedown ride was in order, and I also though a trip over to Eastside and back was a better ride for this than a 45 mile roundtrip to Harpeth Bicycles.

Everything worked great on the bike and I was even happy with my cleats overall, though I had moved them twice last night in preparation. It was quite windy today though; lots of crosswind on the trip over to the shop, but almost all headwind on the way home. I generally always take the round-about way to get downtown, preferring trips down Belmont Ave or 12th Ave over Nolensville. I'm only 4.5 miles from the shop by car, but my route over was 8.5. I decided to try a new route home and just ride straight down 4th Ave as it turns into Nolensville. That was a mistake! At least for today with the wind. What should of been a 3 mile shorter route took me exactly the same amount of time as it did to get to the shop. Riding up a gradual 2.5 mile hill on Nolensville into a 15+mph wind was slow going. Well lesson learned now. I was thinking this route would allow me to avoid a pretty big hill but I think I'd prefer to ride that shorter, steeper hill than the long one up Nolensville.

So 2 great cycling day back to back with some other fun stuff in between. Yep, start of a great weekend. I refueled tonight with Beth's family at Carrabas for her sister's birthday, yum! On the books tomorrow is church and then I actually have to go in to the studio and do some recording so my weekend I guess is over tonight. Next week will be prepping for our trip to the NYC wholesale show with Freshie & Zero, then a week out of town. Last big trip before our lives change forever!