Easy Like Thursday Morning

By: Ryan, on June 4, 2009

Oh how I loathe mornings, especially the early kind. You know, when the sun hasn’t even come up yet and it’s chilly despite the fact that it’s June? Those mornings, can’t stand them. On the other hand, I love to ride bikes. So every Thursday there’s this ride that starts at a trail (normally chosen the day before) and bikes are on dirt at roughly 6:15am. This morning I suggested the Glenwild Loop since it’s pretty good singletrack and happens to be across the street from my office.

Last night I decided to mount my rigid fork back up. I thought I was being a little crazy, the Reba has served me well on the rocky terrain so far in Utah, but the ODIS (stands for “Oh Damn It’s Smooth”)had been sitting in the closet looking for love. I also converted the bike back to single speed (34t-22t gearing) and put my bell back on. God knows you need the bell.

4 other insane clowns showed up for the ride. OilcanRacer “Hollywood” Larry (unofficial nickname), Matt, Corey and a new guy named Jeff. I look really fat in this picture, and classy. From front to back: Matt, Corey, Oilcan, yours truly.

It turns out that my fitness has been improving quite nicely over the last month or so. I don’t feel winded on the climbs like I did when I first got here, and I feel like I’ve got some power in my legs. The 116 mile road rides are no doubt helping with that. The choice to put the ODIS back on turned out to be sheer genius. I don’t know why exactly, but I felt smoother and faster with the rigid fork. I was paying better attention to my lines and flying over stuff that had given me issues with gears and suspension.

After the first climb we stopped and caught our breath in the crisp 45 degree air. My glasses started to fog up and that’s when Oilcan pointed out his sick shades.

Corey doesn’t seem to think they’re all that, but Matt was hella impressed with the shades.

That’s the look of envy my friends. Also something seems to be going on that I’m rather uncomfortable with. It’s also worth pointing out that Oilcan was running what essentially amounted to cross tires on his carbon rims. Since the majority of Glenwild consists of sharp pointy, tire-stabby rocks, I think he earned those glasses through sheer cajones.

The backside of the Glenwild trail is a 2ish mile descent that starts with a switchback downhill and turns into a long swooping descent through a field. The trail actually runs right behind my colleague Ana’s house. I recognized the fire pit we were sitting around drinking wine a week ago (no pic, sorry. I was going mega fast.).

Matt and Larry, on one of the few road crossings on the trail. Near Ana’s house, but not quite.

We had a fourth member on our crew today. Jeff. Jeff is a man-giant who was out on his first Thursday morning ride. He was struggling to pull his 6 inch travel Kona up the hills, but he ripped it like a madman on the downhills.

Jeff and big boy bike near the top of the first climb.

Pic from the end of the ride, I look way less fat.

Overall it was a great ride. I felt great for probably the second time since I’ve been to Utah. There’s something to be said for getting over to the Cache valley to ride, the trails basically rule and the rides are just generally more enjoyable.

Thursday morning stats:

Distance: 8.34mi

Time: 48:14

Vert: 1137 ft

Avg Speed: 10.4 m/h

Max Speed: 22.7 m/h

Pace: 5:47

Avg HR: 136 bpm

Max HR: 177 bpm

kCal: 661

Below: 21:47

In: 9:36

Above: 43:42

Some gear I used:

Vassago Jabberwocky SS – 10/10 (seriously): Purchased at Dallas Bike Works

RBK Precision XT HRM – 5/10: Purchased at Woot.com

Shoved in: cycling