First Blood - Fountain Head

This afternoon I set out for more training for the Wilderness 101.  My goal was 3 laps around the Fountainhead mountain bike trail.  I've ridden this trail 3x previous with pretty good success.  I have even renamed the ominous Shock-O-Billy Hill to Speed-O-Billy because I just haul down it.  OK, a little caution on the first half, then it's off the brakes. The trail is about 8 miles and just beats the tar out of you from beginning to end.  I have to say that I'm pretty tired of riding over roots at this point.  The first lap was just getting my legs under me and warming up.  The 2nd lap I really picked...

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Danimal's Inaugural Cobia Ride

Danimal ventured out for his inaugural ride on the new Gary Fisher Cobia, and what a ride it was.  We spent 2.5 hours cruising around Lake Mercer, Burke Lake, South Run and the mighty Spartan trail under the power lines.  Danimal held up pretty well, which is to be expected.  The trail is about as flat as one can get in this area.  The "hills" that Danimal likes to refer to around Lake Mercer are nothing more than short inclines. As expected, a bit of soreness started near the end of the ride.  Biggest pain point: the palms.  Putting that much consistent pressure on the palms is painful after awhile.  My palms get pretty sore on the century rides as well.  I just bought a pair of "Grab-On's" for my mountain bike that have a lot more cushion than...

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Wakefield / Accotink 52+ a Nose Dive

How not to jump a creek Ouch!  No, that's not my head criticizing me for taking a 6' drop into the creek head first.  It's my ass complaining about riding 52.5 miles in gym shorts.  That was the start of my Saturday June 18. Saturday morning I got a 7:10am wake up call from Scott Kelly telling me to hightail it over to Wakefield Park.  Now I've been trying to get Scott to come riding with me for months.  Throughout this time I've offered time and time again to take different routes and areas to explore.  I don't believe I ever asked him to call me at 7:10am on a Saturday to go riding. I met him and John Kidd...

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Fountain Head Regional Park - Solo

An incredible mountain biking trail I set out Sunday morning to get in a few laps at Fountain Head.  As noted in previous blogs, this trail makes you "Bring It" for the entire 8 mile figure 8.  If you aren't ascending steep ravines like Cardiac Hill, Holy Grail Hill and Salamander Switchback, then you're crazy descending on roots and rocks with the ultimate test descending Shock-O-Billy hill.  Yes, that's a hill that even a Billy Goat would think twice about.  Even the "flat" terrain is loaded with rocks, roots, sharp turns and narrow paths with big drop-offs on one side. I set out on my first lap and took it somewhat...

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Accotink 100 degrees - Bring It!

As D-Atlas has been told many of times, "Bring It".  Last night took off on the Stumpy in extreme heat.  It was about 100 degrees and muggy. Fortunately I was not going to be riding in the direct sun.  I got on the Wakefield Park and Accotink trails and just kept going.  I rode lots of trails I had never ridden before and I couldn't believe how much I was sweating. Thoughts did occur to me that I need to be mindful if I stop sweating.  That's when really bad things happen to your body.  Fortunately, I never reached that point and had plenty of cold water.  Riding time was almost two hours.  This kind of riding is far different than the road riding.  Road riding you are generally pretty consistently  pedaling with no crazy change in heart...

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Fountain Head Regional Park

Brandon gave me a call last Saturday June 4 to see if I was up for a mountain biking extravaganza.  Of course I was, and Fountain Head was the choice track.  I've read about the track online and in lots of blogs.  It is a highly rated course and I was anxious to try it out. Loaded up the bikes and off we went.  Weather was extremely nice for biking, a little on the hot/humid side.  We got to Fountain Head in about 20 minutes and unloaded. The trail doesn't waste any time getting down to business.  It is serious technical riding over roots, rocks, trees, down ravines, up ravines and dodging various obstacles. Early on you're going up steep hills so the heart gets pumping early.  The track is sort of a big figure 8.  There are directional areas to prevent...

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