Saturday, December 1, 2007

Good Ol' Huntsville

Woke up early to squeeze in a ride at Huntsville State Park.



I was short on time and my legs fresh from my lack of training. My solution: I decided to go for an all-out speed effort! The result: I'm tired!

I had 2-stops. Once to pee, and once because I blew myself up on a climb. The rebuilt rear shock worked flawlessly. It was satisfying to hear the *squish-squish* of the fork and shock working again.



On the good side, I rode some sections today that I haven't successfully made it through before. Below is an example. The approach to this bridge is steeper than it looks below. And, it's blind, around a curve. You pop around the curve and are greeted with that big root across the trail. I've never made it down to the bridge without bailing (chickening) out before.



Today I came up on it too fast to stop and bail out. So, it was ride it out! After riding it, I can't figure out why it intimidated me so much. It's not that bad. Riding fast is helpful sometimes. I need to quit being so timid.

A DEVELOPING A BAD HABIT

For some reason I've developed a very bad habit. I keep leaving my left pedal down when I'm not pedaling on downhills or turns. I scraped that pedal on roots several times. Once, nearly caused a nasty fall. I'm glad I wasn't using egg beaters today!

Not sure when I started doing this, but I need to nip it.

TRAILS IN GREAT SHAPE
The trails were in great shape. No wet spots, and the sand was packed down from recent rains. Barely even got the tires dusty today!

HURRY!
I had to hurry back to HOUTX for the LSU game kickoff.

The Tigers won.

So it was a double good day!


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