Weekend Adventurecross Fun!

Tiffin and I were somewhere between Mudlick Road and Turkey Run Road in Buckhannon, WV. These are some rutted out abandoned country roads that are primarily used by ATV’s now. I put some 29 x 1.8’s (46mm) tires on my cross bike, and decided to see how well it did. Everything was fine, other than the frame and fork clearances for mud…

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Not Fast, But I Can’t Slow Down

Went to Elkins yesterday to hop on the Allegheny Highlands Trail,what I like to call it, the Elkins Rail Trail. There’s sparse snow on the ground, and the trail is starting to feel kind of sloppy due to the excess moisture. With the terrain slowing me down a bit, I wasn’t expecting to be going that slow, but I still pushed my hardest.

That is my problem. When casually riding, I still end up in Zone 4-5, trying to finish as fast as possible, regardless if my goal is time or distance. I mean… this is a rail trail… Isn’t it supposed to be about fun and leisure, not blowing up at 186bpm for no reason other than trying to go faster? I don’t race, but this is still off-season.

How do people tell their selves to go slower? Do they bring along their girlfriend/wife (ba dum tsssssh!)? About 2/3rds of the way through the ride, I told myself that redlining this is silly, and I should just be going aerobic… I planned on keeping my heart rate around 140-150.

Didn’t happen. I don’t even think I grabbed my waterbottle until mile 12 or something? I did stop at the Tucker County border (unintentionally) and took some photos and video. Awesome rock walls with ice and snow aplenty. I had to jump over a two foot wide creek to get some of these shots, and this made me feel like a genius wearing carbon road shoes… I never said I was brilliant.

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DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME

Well, that statement doesn’t really work out well for this situation, but you know what I mean…

 

The state road had completed both lanes of traffic, but did not apply the rumblestrip to either side yet. Their job on this day was to do so, leaving an entire lane perfectly paved and blocked off… for us to use! 🙂

I took some footage with my kodak zi8, but have sped it up 150% to make sure it doesn’t get boring easily.

Here ‘ya go.

 

What do you think? Would you do this? Was it crazy or narcissistic? Have you done it before? Fun? Lemme know in the comments section!

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Loose Dogs Mean Lost Lives

Well, in this case, there were no lost lives on either account, but that doesn’t mean it will not happen. Anybody have a story of crazy dogs chasing you, your friend, or anyone else? Have you ever been bitten? What kinds of precautions do you take?

This being West Virginia, have you ever been attacked by anything else? Rabid Possum/squirrel/raccoon?

My buddy, Mike Miller, had a bear lunge out at him on the trails before… Came within a very close radius of his foot/leg, and he about shat himself.

I don’t ever really worry about dogs too much. Either I ride away from them, or I throw stuff at them. I haven’t really met any vicious dogs either…. so…. yeah…

Related articles

• Dundee dog owner charged after Rottweiler mauling (money.marksandspencer.com)
• 5 bitten after dog gets loose: Saskatoon police (cbc.ca)

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Turn Your Head/Screen For Optimum Viewing Angle

Dirty MTB Route I found last year. Decided to try it on the MTB. It was rought, but refreshing, in this all-road season!

Here is the link to the route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/52806296

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