Slowly @ Hale

A slow 10 mile loop at Hale Thursday. SS legs were worn from previous day so I gave it all I got. Good stuff! Walked the dogs at Uconn stung by a bee on eyelid, not fun....

Da hale slowz

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The posessor

Messing with the dog last night.......

Back To basics

Wow what a nice day today, what a way to compliment it by a ride after work. I got done with work early and decided to get over to Case and do a loop into Gay City. I was hesitant last night when I packed the 29r but it turned out it was a great decision. At first it felt funny but after a little bit it just felt fast. As I entered the woods I quickly remembered this place got torn apart a few weeks ago from a storm. I could not believe how many limbs were down, including a massive one right at the reservoir. This time last year we had just moved into the house we are in now after the hurricane hit and left us without power for a week. It was a steep reminder seeing the limbs down and I am thankful we are not in the same mess. Anyway on with the ride, things were going good and I was covering ground and made it across the street. I really love that trail on the Gay City side, I think it's called Ribbon, anyway great stuff! By now I knew I was past the 1/2 way mark and was feeling mighty good. Soon on the Tinti and then back at the car. For me I was surprised to see 12.40 miles in an hour forty five, must be the quickest I have done that loop and now would easily be the tour I would give to a Case stranger. Really love my rigid SS, I look forward to using it tomorrow sometime.

Case to gay city goods

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More of Tyler Mill

Hit some traffic on the way home from work monday right as I started the commute. Got through that and then hit another mess and then jumped off the highway and hit the closes spot to bike which was Tyler Mill. I was juggling the doppler radar on my phone and wanted to ride as soon as possible cause you know I am a bike whore and needed my fix. Got out of the car and puddles from the rain a few hours earlier worried me but when I did hit trail it was nice and moist with no mud. I rode some trail that probably sees more foot traffic than bike and just tried to figure more of this place out. Made my way to the north end of the park and eneded up in a field and had a real good moment there and took in the great site it was. The onto a rugged orange trail which had some hike a bike but it lead to a awesome spine that was a very nice challenge. Found a purple trail which turned out to be a great find and it rode up and down and twisted like any good bike trail should. It was hot, I was soaked with sweat and remaining water on the leaves slapping me. It was a great ride and finally getting a grip on this place and trying to make it flow better. Wednesday ride can't wait, probably singlespeed and give the dawg a rest. Maybe I will ride that bike I have had for 7 months and ridden less than 10 times. I am sorry but there is nothing like a new bike and I am trying to hold onto that feel. If I won mega millions I would not have this problem so help a brother out.

More tyler mill

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31 Weeks down 9 to go

He is coming soon!

Tyler Miller

Was in the neighborhood of a place I have ridden once before. Had a little over an hour to do a lunch break ride and tore into it. This place is small but I like it, not much climbing, lots of log ride options and smooth and twisty. Rode some that I rode before and rode some new. Not too hard of place to figure out but I still am clueless as to how to link a functional loop. Was pretty steamy out there with the polluted air but came out of this one alive and anxious for more.

Tyler millage

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Wednesday Group

Derek got a wednesday ride on the bikerag.com so it was game on for a ride. It was a 6:00 start but I was able to get a few miles in before the ride which is always great. It felt very good on the bike hitting the trails, more than normal. I questioned continuing a ride by myself but decided to follow these fellas. Got a little late start with them but we were off onto the other side of the road raising heck. Everyone was in a fast fury of pedaling and quickly I struggled keeping up. Got a flat and being in the way back nobody knew it so I fixed it and with nobody coming back I was left to fend for myself in the wild wilderness of Hale. I put my headphones on and put together a loop in my mind which turned out to be fantastic. The woods got dark nearing the end, I had no clue where the group ride was and hadn't crossed paths during my ride. Arrived to the cars and found some remainders of the ride and found that it hadn't gone well for some. Especially Derek who broke his fifth metacarpal on wiggle. I was in high spirits and rode home in a mighty fine mood.

Broken crew hale

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Awoke, it was dark, felt more awake than I have in a while at 5:30am. Rolled out of bed, fed the dogs, took them out, watched 10 minutes of TV, filled the water bladder in my bike bag and off I went. It was not as cool as I was hoping to be, but it was still a big difference from previous weeks. Followed Colin into the woods and with overcast skies it was very dark with change of the seasons. My eyes adjusted best they could allowing me to make out most the terrain in front of me but not all. I felt good and so did the bike as I tried to keep up with Colin. He makes me look like beater out there but I am glad to join him on these great morning rides. Rode Bipolar backwards which was a nice mix up and once again a great new loop at Hale was performed. Not sure when more riding will take place but glad I got one in so far. Love my life

A dark mornin hale

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Black Out

I was at Lowes getting some insect killer and we found ourselves in the curtain and shade aisle. I read in one of the baby books I am reading that it doesn't hurt to have the room the baby is sleeping in dark during the day to promote sleeping for our little guy. It also doesn't hurt to help us promote a little more sleep right! I know nothing very interesting, but been off the bike the last few days so hang in there.

Friday Nassahegan Delight

Let me just say that this place is the ultimate riding place I have been to in CT so far and I freaking love it. It has a great mix of trails and most importantly its a pretty smooth hilly place. It's very big and confusing still on my second trip but I was lucky enough to find a GPS track on everytrail.com that I used part of to make a two hour loop. I set off on some trail I remembered from last time and tried to head in the direction where this other guys track was and it took a little work to find what i needed. Luckily I blindly decided to climb a rd that lead close to the track and soon I spotted hidden little trail in the woods and this turned out to be a great moderate uphill route. The trails here are so awesome mostly because they are single track and built my mountain bikers for mountain bikers. Came across a pretty cool sign in the middle of the woods which definitely meant I was on a mountain bikers trail my the miller time sign. Couldn't stop much this ride due to not wanting to get west niled by swarms of mosquitos. Down some stuff with a mix of fire road and then back to single track and across the road to Sessions. A whole different network of trails lie here and it pained to only be able to ride so little of it but I was set on my 12 miles of trail and stuck to it. Across the road and up some rocky wide trail and then a steep descent to another road and the uphill pavement to the car. This place rocks, its so fricken good it's ridiculous. Cant's wait to get back and tear it up more. Made four rides this week great success!

2nd nass/sessions

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Thursday At The Reservoir

So sweet, got one after work on thursday. I was in the fancy area of Farmington and Canton area and found myself with a bike in the car and minutes from West Hartford Reservoir trails. I had the Dawg in the car and was hesitant about using the older of my three bikes but little did I know how much fun it was going to be. All this stuff about 29" wheels I am believing to be bogus. I loved being back on the 26" with some beefy tires and full suspension, the cockpit felt tight compared to the last two 29" I have been on, but pedaling was efficient and it was a great time. I rode clockwise around the reservoir and managed to still find sections I have not yet hit on the high side. After a little over an hour I was back in the area of the car and added some more miles to finish up after two hours riding. Was really good ride over there, the temperatures were especially pleasing in the mid 70's.

West hartford grown cool

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Monday Tuesday

Lacking on the blog a lot these days so I am going to do this better late than never. I ran on Monday for the last time in NY and it punished me on my decision to ride my bike later that day. Just like last week I found myself happy go lucky and ready to ride and then found out the body just was not having it. I got off at a decent start at Grayville and it quickly fell on my face as I began to climb. It was stinking hot out and the mosquitoes were molesting me on every pedal stroke which was helping nothing. After an hour I called the quits and headed out soaked but got a good 6 miles in on top of the run I did that day so it was ok. Got home and went to Uconn with LuAnn and let the dogs run around. Fun stuff!

Grayville bites swamp

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Airline State Park I finally pulled off a Monday morning ride and as Monday did not put up a very good appearance. But as always I would rather be out there biking as being a lazy shmuck. Got a good 90 minutes of trail, I was chasing Colin around as he tore up the trail with me in tail. BB7’s are rubbing and sooo annoying no matter how much adjustments I make, please but me new Hydros I and done with cable brakes.

Hale am

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What a great pedal yesterday. There was a group ride with normal Derek group at Hale for 6:00. I got out of the house by 5:30 so hit the closest trail from the house and linked up a few miles before I got started with the group ride. It was overcast by the time I got out there but heat and humidity were present but have been worse. I was going to jump on the Tanuki which has only seen two handful of uses but was pissed when I found the rear brake lever needs a bleeding or pads pushed back in since they are rubbing and have no play. I was in no mood to tinker so it was rigid all the way and loved every second of it. Felt really good on the bike and felt overall tremendously better than Mondays crap show. I met up with the guys and got cranking, it was a very fast pace up front and surprisingly found myself riding very strong and it felt mighty good. I was left wanting more at the end of this ride but light was low so I pedaled myself happily home. I hope to ride tonight but we will just have to wait and see what the wife is doing.

Hale supa fast

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Young Blood Passion

So awesome

Stop And Smell The Roses

Life is good, LuAnn and baby are doing so great. We had a great trip to Utah and everything went well and we had fun. The baby is making lots of moves now, not really kicks anymore it's more like him moving tossing and turning inside of his little balloon inside of LuAnn. We are in the third trimester and it hardly shows, the reality of the little man that will one day be in this world with all it's problems and all it's glory is a very nervous but exciting experience. I don't know if it's just me but I have already imagined how great and tough all different stages of his life will be for him and us but look forward to being a whole family and doing the best I can for him together. With that said, I got out on a ride yesterday! I actually went on a run first, this is now my 7th run in NY and this time was 43 seconds past the 6 miles in 60 minute mark that I for some reason set. Running is mixed feelings for me, I hate the pounding my body takes but I like the physical fitness aspects of it. I will only be going to NY one more time next Monday so I have no idea if I will be doing anymore of it since I use the time to kill basically. Got to Case for a 4:45 start and had something in mind to ride and was looking forward to it. It is amazing with the new to me Coop Rd. and new trail start has opened up with ride options. I was back on the rigid and man did it feel funky at first. I loved looking down at the beefy 2.3 tires, the somewhat tight cockpit of the Raleigh felt foreign but worked. I headed for the reservoir and gained some elevation and then climbed to the top of the hillside above the reservoir and shot down the steep quick one. Then around the reservoir and I stopped at the clearing by the rope swing and snapped a picture. Something was up, my heart was racing like mad and I was feeling very fatigued. I felt like I was back in Utah at 10,000 ft. I laid down and ate some cashew bars feeling pretty sick I went flat on my back and enjoyed a relaxing sight into the pines encircling the blue sky. It was a nice sight and felt very very tranquil. I then took off not feeling too great still but determined to get 90 minutes in. Made my way to the top of the brand new trail and then down and really taking my time now going quite slow to not alarm my heart rate. Then to the steel bridge and then up to the top of Tinti to tear down in. Hitting the car I was pretty shot, I decided to call of my Tuesday morning ride cause I felt so cruddy. Very good ride and good to be home :)

Case o loops poops

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On With The Show

Ok so after repairing the loose hub and rubbing brakes I was all set for a ride tuesday morning with my buddy Brent at 7am. I had a long commute so I was up early at 5:30 and found myself on the interstate heading north as the sun slowly rose. It was nice and cool and a bit cloudy with the weather in the area and this was going to be a great day to ride. We agreed on meeting at the zoo for the start and sure enough Brent arrived right on time. Hopped on the bike and we headed onto the trail and no more than 50 feet from the car I hear Brent's voice behind me and something is wrong. I come down and he says my frame is cracked! I could not believe my ears but was assured when I saw the rear chain stay snapped all the way though I knew he was absolutely right. Can you believe it, his pretty new Scott snapped while pedaling uphill. It was somewhat lucky that it didn't happen on our big ride saturday and also that we were close to the car when it happened I suppose but I was bummed we weren't going to get to ride. With a change of plans he set off for the car and I set off for the hills. Shoreline is as familiar as I remember it, I quickly began to think of the time me and my wife spent on our many rides on it. It was a quick ride to the beginning of Dry Creek and followed two bikers ahead of me to the first lookout. With the distracting views of the Salt Lake Valley I put together a game plan which was to run two laps on bobsled. As I made my way happily to the top of Bobsled I was enjoying the fresh legs I still have after the 70 miles on them. I hit Bobsled and they faded real bad on the first section, kinda scary when your brakes aren't all there on a steep fast run. I rode Bobsled slower than I ever have due to not wanting to bend or break anything on the wimpy 29r I have grown to dislike. Made my way back to the park and then back up for round two again and not much was different. By now I was trying to hit the car for 10:00am so I had 30 minutes to make my way back. Accomplished that goal and hit the car and headed back south. I have to return the bike tomorrow and am going to fall short of a 100 miles goal but I know I gave it a great shot and am happy with the 81 miles spent on the bike. With LuAnn being busy here and there and trying to spend as much time as I can with her it was a miracle I pulled off even 80 miles. She is amazing and understands my whoredom and I love her for that! Looking forward to kicking back and enjoying the next day and half left of our visit with each other. So long suckas

Zoo shoreline + 2 laps bobsled

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