Okay, I have to admit that this is something I have not felt in a while... horrible after riding.
This really was a bad day. We have had rain for the past two days and I knew that there would be a little effect upon my riding, but I honestly did not believe that it would make riding the hardpack trail that I recently found THAT difficult. You see, we've been in a bit of a drought, and even though we have had two day of rain, the ground has sucked it all right up. I couldn't find any puddles to splash in. So I figured that there would not be much of a problem riding that trail. Boy was I wrong...
Although the trail was in decent condition, it was still soft. This was only a problem because my tires naturally sunk into the soft earth and formed a clear "U" in which my tires struggled to plow through. I pushed myself harder than I did on Saturday, and it was a hard fought 6.2 miles, but I managed to do it in only 3 minutes more time. Of course those 3 minutes knocked my overall time down 1.2 mph.
I do not know if/when I will try that trail again as there is a lot of rain predicted later on this week. I think I will stick to the roads, which my bike is more suited for anyway.
Fortunately, I think I have found a riding buddy. A friend from church wants to do some more riding and has asked if he can join me. I do not know how much motivation we can give each other. He's even more casual of a cyclist than I am, and he's also riding a crap Wal-Mart "Y" frame mountain bike. Then again... his is MUCH skinnier than I am, which means that his lousy bike may slow him down to my speeds.
I guess we shall see.
All I know is that I have a lot of riding to do to make up for a hot and busy summer.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Tobacco Heritage Trail
I finally found the "trailhead" for this trail just a few blocks from my house. It's not exactly well known or advertised. To make matters worse, it is also not even marked off of the trail!
A little history here:
The Tobacco Heritage Trail is part of Virginia's "Rails to Trails" program, which is designed to turn defunct railroad lines into usable, hard pack trails for bikes, hiking, and horseback riding. The program has worked fairly well until the state finally realized, "oh, wait... we don't have any money because we are spending millions more than we bring in!" So this was one of first programs to get a spending cut. Although I'm a little disappointed, I fully expect and understand this. (My personal beliefs dictate that you shouldn't spend money that you don't have... I know, it's a radical concept!)
Anyway, all of this leads to a VERY short trail. From the official trailhead, it is a little over a mile and a half, with marks every 1/10 mile. However, there is a "lead up" trail that is about a mile long. When you add in the ride to and from my house, (sarcasm) I went a whopping 6.2 miles today. (/sarcasm) If the trail is ever completed as planned, it will stretch from Lawrenceville, VA all the way to South Boston, VA. This should be a total of 90-100 miles when all is complete.
In spite of the short distance, there are some really nice features to the trail:
* I like the hard pack gravel. It is a little more challenging than normal asphalt roads, which makes for a better work out.
* There is a stretch that is a solid 3/4 miles of uphill fun (can you say workout?).
* Lots of shade! (Trust me, this is very nice today where the weather is in the high 90s.)
* It's very close to my home! I can pop out a good hard ride and be home in under half an hour! Seriously, it takes longer to watch an episode of Charles in Charge (which coincidentally also takes a lot more physical strength than riding those 6 miles).
* Riding along the old railroad tracks also gives me the opportunity to see some back country that I do not get to on the highways.
I will add this ride to my regular routes! My plan is to do it until it is easy or they make it longer, although if government is involved, I think we know which one of those two will occur first...
A little history here:
The Tobacco Heritage Trail is part of Virginia's "Rails to Trails" program, which is designed to turn defunct railroad lines into usable, hard pack trails for bikes, hiking, and horseback riding. The program has worked fairly well until the state finally realized, "oh, wait... we don't have any money because we are spending millions more than we bring in!" So this was one of first programs to get a spending cut. Although I'm a little disappointed, I fully expect and understand this. (My personal beliefs dictate that you shouldn't spend money that you don't have... I know, it's a radical concept!)
Anyway, all of this leads to a VERY short trail. From the official trailhead, it is a little over a mile and a half, with marks every 1/10 mile. However, there is a "lead up" trail that is about a mile long. When you add in the ride to and from my house, (sarcasm) I went a whopping 6.2 miles today. (/sarcasm) If the trail is ever completed as planned, it will stretch from Lawrenceville, VA all the way to South Boston, VA. This should be a total of 90-100 miles when all is complete. In spite of the short distance, there are some really nice features to the trail:
* I like the hard pack gravel. It is a little more challenging than normal asphalt roads, which makes for a better work out.
* There is a stretch that is a solid 3/4 miles of uphill fun (can you say workout?).
* Lots of shade! (Trust me, this is very nice today where the weather is in the high 90s.)
* It's very close to my home! I can pop out a good hard ride and be home in under half an hour! Seriously, it takes longer to watch an episode of Charles in Charge (which coincidentally also takes a lot more physical strength than riding those 6 miles).
* Riding along the old railroad tracks also gives me the opportunity to see some back country that I do not get to on the highways.
I will add this ride to my regular routes! My plan is to do it until it is easy or they make it longer, although if government is involved, I think we know which one of those two will occur first...
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