Stay off Paint Creek Trail for awhile

Thought the warm weather and sun from the past few days would have made Paint Creek Trail ready to ride.

It was, if you don’t mind getting muddy. Really muddy.

Here’s a photo of my leg and bike after a late morning 15-miler. The snow and ice are long gone. But the ground is still giving up its frost and long stretches of the trail were wet and muddy. I was a mess. The bike, too. Gonna have to bring out a hose and clean it off tomorrow.

I saw several other cyclists and more than a few runners. But the trail just isn’t ready for lots of bike traffic. Those of us who were out there today had to do lots of manaueveing to avoid leaving ruts.

So my suggestion is stay off Paint Creek until the frost is completely gone.

That’s why our Blazing Saddles bunch is riding Stony Creek this Saturday. We take off at 11;30 am.

I’m also hoping to hook up with Chris O at 2pm Saturday for a Stony Creek loop.

We meet in the parking lot of the boat ramp if you want to join us.

Blazing Saddles Bicycle Club logos

We have our logos for our Blazing Saddles Bicycle Club.

Version 1:

Version 2:

And Version 3:

Make your pick below.

Next up… Jerseys. And a redesign of our website.

Saturday March 13 ride

We meet at Stony Creek and set off at 11:30 am sharp from the boat ramp. MB trails still too muddy but we’ll ride perimeter road, nature center and all ins and outs. I’m taking my road bike.

Google Bicycle Maps are pretty cool

Have you tried Google’s new bicycle route maps?

I’ve been playing around with it for a couple of days now, running various routes through the database. Type in your starting point and destination and then  you’ll get a  suggested route on a detailed map, utilizing bicycle paths and trails, sidewalks, bike lanes and back roads that supposedly let you safely and efficiently peddle to your destination.

Google worked with biking groups and bike trail organizations in building the service and it shows, with info on 12,000 miles of trails in 150 cities already in the database, with more on the way.

Still, there have been some issues. In New York City, there’s been some controversy becaise the maps direct cyclists onto terribly congested streets and, on some routes, prohibited lanes. So check your own routes carefully.

I ran a commute I like to take to my office in Troy and another ride I often do to Stony Creek Metro Park. In both cases, the route Google had me on was the best and most direct, using roads with good shoulders, bike lanes or nearby rails-to-trails routes.

Here’s a video demo I did for you:

The Birth of the Blazing Saddles Bicycle Club?

That’s the best name suggestion I’ve heard for the group of BikeFitness.net regulars who ride together each week.

Sound okay to you guys?

Hmmm. Now we need a logo. Anybody have any artistic skill? Then jerseys.

Here’s a group of us at our unofficial star of spring ride at Stony Creek today. The snow piles may still be there but we insist, from now on… it’s spring!

Time to force start the outdoor riding season!

The 2010 bicycle season officially starts this coming Saturday, March  6. That’s when the Bike Fitness gang heads to Stony Creek Metropark  for a noon ride to officially kick off the outdoor riding season.

We’ve  been riding on and off ever since New Year’s Day but now we’re ready to say spring is here. The temperatures may still be chilly — in the  40s — but who cares? We rode many mornings last year from May through  early July with temperatures in the upper 30s. So we can handle 40 to  be sure.

Want to join us? We meet at the boat ramp at Stony Creek and take off at noon sharp. See you there,

Phoenix, live, rocks French (Yale Daily News)

In September of 2000, France gave us Phoenix; four months later, Apple launched the first version of iTunes. Only recently has Phoenix garnered the praise and attention it has merited; their latest album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” won the band a Grammy this past January.

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Phoenix, live, rocks French (Yale Daily News)

A winter ride around a frozen lake

Today was my birthday and with my buddy Pat Benson, I celebrated it with a nice brisk ride around Stony Creek Lake. The temperature was 23 degrees.

As a tractor equipped with a rotating brush cleared snow from the frozen lake in front of the boat launch for an ice skating and outdoor hockey rink, we bunded up and circled the lake on the perimeter road. The road was snow and ice free and with a bright sun and very light wind, our extra layers of clothing and baclavas kept us warm and – come the finish – almost sweaty.

It was my first outdoor ride since the New Year’s Day Flying Rhinos event in Clarkston and my knee surgery on Jan. 28th.

I wasn’t sure how the knee would handle the hills. And Pat was coming back from a hospital stay because of an infection. So both of us approached today’s ride with a gingerly caution.  But we both felt strong and probably could have done a couple more loops. No matter how you cut it, riding indoors on a trainer is no substitute for outside.

The knee felt fine and I pronounced myself officially back to normal after today’s outdoor ride.

I also can’t wait now for the outside season to reliably be underway. But even with the cold, today’s ride convinced me that winter doesn’t necessarily have to restrict me to indoor riding.

Alas, though, snow and ice will. And we’re forecast to get 10 inches of snow tomorrow.

Spring, though, is definitely coming.

Fix knee: Check

I’m ready… make that will soon be ready – for biking season 2010 now that I’ve fixed that pesky knee.

Turns out that I had two tears in my meniscus and some gunk that needed scarping. The whole procedure took less than half an hour and as I type this, about 10 hours after the surgery, I’m feeling no pain. I have the knee propped up on three pillows and am icing it.

That’s surely because I’m still pretty doped up.

But I’m able to put some weight on in and hobble around to tend to my needs. Which have been minimal as I’ve spent most of the day sleeping.

Mr ortho doc, Dr. Kyle Anderson, says I can even jump on my stationary bike tomorrow for some light resistence spinning.

And leave it for a biking buddy to be there. When I walked into the hospital at 6AM, guess who was already in the waiting room? Maury Potter. I thought for a minute that Maury was having surgery, too. Nope. He was there for me to offer support. How’s that for a good friend?

Rhino Polar Ride Starts New Year

There were about 135 of us braving a couple inches of fresh and still-falling snow and 23-degree temperature New Year’s Day as the Flying Rhinos Cycling Club welcomed in 2010 with its annual Polar Ride along the back roads of Clarkston, MI.

There were two routes, a 16 miler and an 8-miler, all on slippery road. Lots of riders fell. “It was like sliding into home plate,” said Wayne, one of our riders who, with Tina, went down just before the finish. Maury, another one of our Bike Fitness regulars, also fell… in the parking lot as he took his bike out for a lets-see-what-this-is-like shakedown run. That convinced him to shuck his plans to ride.

I managed to stay upright, though there were several patches of ice that had me swerving.

Here’s a picture of our crew… (click it to enlarge)

That’s (l-r) Wayne, Tina, Mike, Pat, Terry and Tim, with Maury behind the camera.

Pat, Terry and Tim did the 16 miler. I was planning to do the long route, to,  but, about mile two, my feet got so cold I thought my toes would fall off. With Tina and Wayne, I opted for the shorter route. I wore two pair of socks (one of them thermal) and a packet of toe warmers in each shoe but the thin nylon shoe covers I wore just didn’t stop the cold. I need better foot gear if I’m going to continue this winter biking.

I talked with Jeff, from the Kinetics Systems Bicycles store in Clarkston that sponsors the ride and he suggested studded tires. The good ones would set me back $100 a tire and the foot protection would be another $50 or so. I’ll keep that in mind. They’re only good in snow and ice and, the way Michigans weather has been this season, we haven’t had much. Besides, the outdoor season is only two months away. Right?

This is our first involvement with the Flying Rhinos, who have to have the coolest name of any clycling club out there. They had steaming bowls of hot chili at the finish line, along with brownies, hot chocolate, coffee and bagels.

All in all, it was a great start to a New Year, I hope to do at least 3,000 miles this year. Tomorrow, it’s on the indoor trainer.

Happy New Year.

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