kingdom trails
I spent the weekend in northeast Vermont at the kingdom trails. Seems to be the mecca of the northeast for good cross country riding. Omega and I drove up Friday evening to meet up with some friends (Bryan & Brian) I used to work with in Maine. Set up camp at the Burke Mountain campsite (halfway up the ski resort mountain) and realized my lower back is a mess (sharp pains all the time) so sleeping wasn't fun. Saturday was 80deg, cloudy and very humid. On the bike at 9:30am after some breakfast and a nice walk for Omega. We immediately started going up the mountain to check out some trails such as the T-Bar trail (technical descent). Then found a trail that meandered down the mountain into town.
We touched base on just about every trail and even ran into Indy Fab's Marianne Stover early afternoon. I haven't seen her since the Mount Snow NORBA race in 2005. She and her friends tagged along with us for a while. "Why not let the rigid singlespeeder lead? After all he's 2nd in the country for the 100milers." was the comment I got from the two Brians. Guess I did a good job for the whole crew (now up to 6 or 7) was spread out at respectable distances for tight singletrack.
A few hours later we parted ways with Marianne and her friends and did some more riding. A quick stop in town for some food around 4pm and then the long arduous climb up to the campground. The climb actually isn't that bad until the last mile. There it kicks up and all I could do with my 34x21 was stand up. Did I say my back was a mess? Felt like I pinched a nerve but riding my bike felt fine (go figure).
The weather was starting to cool off now as I woke Omega up from his deep sleep in my car. Little walk/run for him and we're cooking dinner around the campfire. Somehow my back started feeling better (probably the Celebrex I took). Roughly 8hours on the bike with a ton of climbing for the day. Didn't see any singlespeeders on the trail but did see a car with Massachusetts plates in town with 2 singlspeeds on the back.
Woke up Sunday to nice cool weather. Looks like I get to break out the new LS Vicious Cycles jersey. Little slower start to the day.. 10am roll-out to some more climbing up the resort. Well, we only climbed probably 200ft (haha) 'cause we took a wrong turn and ended up on a ski trail going down. I did find some bitchn' glasses though (look more like welding goggles).
Back onto the lazy trail into town. Somewhere along the way light rain came. Wasn't a big deal for it was more of a mist. Into town and we're riding some more trails. Had to climb up this one road to some of the trails like we did on Saturday. Brian tricked me (as he did Saturday) into thinking we had to stop halfway up and get on a trail there (we weren't doing that. we were going up to the top and ducking in a trail up there). Needless to say I wasn't to happy of having to stop my rhythm so I took off in a sprint with him trying to keep up. I backed off and let him get within 5ft and then put the hammer down again. Our legs were saying no but was still fun. We both backed off near the top but I still rolled over the top first. haha.
It was fun playing around like that with him. He's a strong rider. Esp after sitting out all summer due to a herniated disc in his neck from skiing. I'm trying to get him to do these 100milers next year. I think he'd dominate the masters class (50+) but he's hesitant. Brian also had a tendency to climb in his big ring on Saturday so when I was infront of him on a singletrack climb I kept slowing down, almost to a crawl. I could barely turn over the crank so I knew he was having trouble. He'd eventually stop and put his foot down and that's when I pulled away laughing (all in good fun of course).
Oh, Sunday... The rain picked up and I was getting unhappy for I didn't have a jacket and was cold (temps dipped into the upper 50s / lower 60s). Once the gloves and shorts soaked through I was done. Back into town and up the long climb to the campsite. Guess the climb took 30mins or so but it felt harder on Sunday (hmm. I wonder?). 4hrs on the bike. Clean up and hit the road home. Omega was a trooper and I think he had fun (even sleeping in the car most of the day). I'll have to remember that for when the snow comes we'll be driving way up there to go snowboarding.
My back is just as bad today as Friday night. When I got home on Sunday it hurt really bad again. Not sure what sparked it. I do know it was in pain at the SM100 (but not the sharp pain I feel now, more of a numbing pain). Got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. My parents and a few friends think I might have slipped a disc in my lower back which is pinching on the sciatic nerve. Sitting feels fine. Standing straight up shoots pain into my right calf and buttocks. I sure as hope its not a slipped disc or anything of that nature. Doesn't look good for doing the last Michaux race this coming Sunday. I really hope I can do the VT50 for I'm hoping for a sub-5hr race. Gotta think about healing for La Ruta though..
We touched base on just about every trail and even ran into Indy Fab's Marianne Stover early afternoon. I haven't seen her since the Mount Snow NORBA race in 2005. She and her friends tagged along with us for a while. "Why not let the rigid singlespeeder lead? After all he's 2nd in the country for the 100milers." was the comment I got from the two Brians. Guess I did a good job for the whole crew (now up to 6 or 7) was spread out at respectable distances for tight singletrack.
A few hours later we parted ways with Marianne and her friends and did some more riding. A quick stop in town for some food around 4pm and then the long arduous climb up to the campground. The climb actually isn't that bad until the last mile. There it kicks up and all I could do with my 34x21 was stand up. Did I say my back was a mess? Felt like I pinched a nerve but riding my bike felt fine (go figure).
The weather was starting to cool off now as I woke Omega up from his deep sleep in my car. Little walk/run for him and we're cooking dinner around the campfire. Somehow my back started feeling better (probably the Celebrex I took). Roughly 8hours on the bike with a ton of climbing for the day. Didn't see any singlespeeders on the trail but did see a car with Massachusetts plates in town with 2 singlspeeds on the back.
Woke up Sunday to nice cool weather. Looks like I get to break out the new LS Vicious Cycles jersey. Little slower start to the day.. 10am roll-out to some more climbing up the resort. Well, we only climbed probably 200ft (haha) 'cause we took a wrong turn and ended up on a ski trail going down. I did find some bitchn' glasses though (look more like welding goggles).
Back onto the lazy trail into town. Somewhere along the way light rain came. Wasn't a big deal for it was more of a mist. Into town and we're riding some more trails. Had to climb up this one road to some of the trails like we did on Saturday. Brian tricked me (as he did Saturday) into thinking we had to stop halfway up and get on a trail there (we weren't doing that. we were going up to the top and ducking in a trail up there). Needless to say I wasn't to happy of having to stop my rhythm so I took off in a sprint with him trying to keep up. I backed off and let him get within 5ft and then put the hammer down again. Our legs were saying no but was still fun. We both backed off near the top but I still rolled over the top first. haha.
It was fun playing around like that with him. He's a strong rider. Esp after sitting out all summer due to a herniated disc in his neck from skiing. I'm trying to get him to do these 100milers next year. I think he'd dominate the masters class (50+) but he's hesitant. Brian also had a tendency to climb in his big ring on Saturday so when I was infront of him on a singletrack climb I kept slowing down, almost to a crawl. I could barely turn over the crank so I knew he was having trouble. He'd eventually stop and put his foot down and that's when I pulled away laughing (all in good fun of course).
Oh, Sunday... The rain picked up and I was getting unhappy for I didn't have a jacket and was cold (temps dipped into the upper 50s / lower 60s). Once the gloves and shorts soaked through I was done. Back into town and up the long climb to the campsite. Guess the climb took 30mins or so but it felt harder on Sunday (hmm. I wonder?). 4hrs on the bike. Clean up and hit the road home. Omega was a trooper and I think he had fun (even sleeping in the car most of the day). I'll have to remember that for when the snow comes we'll be driving way up there to go snowboarding.
My back is just as bad today as Friday night. When I got home on Sunday it hurt really bad again. Not sure what sparked it. I do know it was in pain at the SM100 (but not the sharp pain I feel now, more of a numbing pain). Got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. My parents and a few friends think I might have slipped a disc in my lower back which is pinching on the sciatic nerve. Sitting feels fine. Standing straight up shoots pain into my right calf and buttocks. I sure as hope its not a slipped disc or anything of that nature. Doesn't look good for doing the last Michaux race this coming Sunday. I really hope I can do the VT50 for I'm hoping for a sub-5hr race. Gotta think about healing for La Ruta though..
posted by dougyfresh at 8:42 PM
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