1000 feet of fun

So last Friday Ben joined the Friday night crew for a tour of Lincoln Woods. He had a GPS unit with him, and as it turns out there's 1000 feet of climbing in the loop I normally ride. It's also about ten miles long. I'm not really surprised but it's nice to quantify it for those wondering what to expect. Descriptions such as "hilly with kinda hard climbs followed by fun descents" don't work for some folks. When I'm in shape the loop takes an hour, in the winter it's at least 15 minutes slower. The Friday rides take it easy, and it can take two hours depending on who's there and what they'd like to ride/re-ride in the techy sections.

There's a nastier version that adds another fire road climb, at least a few hundred feet and nearly another mile of trail (it repeats a descent). The fire road climb is particularly lame because it feels like you're riding up a road constructed entirely of marbles. Lots of fun. I don't subject people to that one, there's this pesky part of me that actually likes other people a little bit.. Anyways, 1000 feet ain't much for those residing near actual mountains, but for those of us near sea level this is about as much climbing as we will find. I'll take it though, at the very least it takes the edge off of those few times I find myself on an actual mountain each year.

Speaking of actual climbing.. when I do find myself shuffling up a larger hill/mountain like a withered goat I'm nearly always forced to reconsider just what it is we do in the woods on our bikes in a place like RI. Is it really mountain biking? Without the climbing is it more likely just woods riding? Is there anything wrong with that? Probably not, at least I don't really care. Just random thoughts being tossed out there.

For anyone wondering how life is with the Honda Fit all I can say is; Great! Last tank came in at 40.2 MPG. That's with ~ 70% highway and 30% city driving. It has enough room for a bike standing up with the front wheel removed, and a whole lot of extra space for gear. Ask Noah, it holds a lot of crap.

I may have mentioned it earlier but my Twin Six duds arrived a while ago. They design some really sharp clothing, the argyle jersey is snazzy enough to convince me to wear a lycra jersey more than wool. And I'm not just saying that because I get a small discount on the goods. I'd pay full price for the stuff any day. On a related note I noticed that a guy I used to ride(and occasionally work) with in Winston Salem, NC is also on the team. A fast guy by the name of Marc Driver. Marc, if you happen upon this drop me a line. There's no contact info for you on the T6 site.

No picture so here's some music. Fishbone's much improved version of a Sublime tune you may recognize.



Here's the video from Brad's comment --->