Family Mountain Biking at Blanket’s Creek
by codemonkey on Nov.28, 2009, under Dave's Rants, Workout Logs
We finally made it back to Blanket’s Creek. Amy has been practicing a lot since her “incident”. (She was on a steep downhill last time we were here, and used her front brake to try to slow down. She chipped and killed a permanent tooth, requiring a root canal, and some cosmetic fixes . . . owie! But, she’s back on the horse!)
We first played around a bit at the obstacle course. Amy and Quinn were having a lot of fun on the jumps, and the log with the ramps beat Tammy. I didn’t face the log traversal (15′ down the narrow side of a log — it’s my nemesis). And, for some reason, the see-saw is gone — that was fun (and scary). Then we hit the trail. I wore my shoes again — I have my click in’s back on my mountain bike. I bust a lot with them on, but, I just have to get used to them. I do enjoy the power I have, when I’m not stalling (and falling).
We rode the “Mosquito Flats” trail from the start, up to the road that leads back. We then doubled back, and paused at the trail up to the Dweling trail (an intermediate trail that Quinn and I have ridden before). We decided to go up to that trail head, since Amy and Tammy had never seen it, and it’s a nice ride. (That’s the westward down and back on the trail below). There is about 1/4 mile of a 3′ elevated plank bridge over the marsh. Things like that used to be hard for Quinn and Amy, but they both rode over it without problems (they didn’t even notice that it could be considered “hard”). Then, we rode back, and hit the obstacle course again, where we all conquered our obstacles! Yes, I did the log traversal — several times. I learned that I just needed to approach it with more speed. That way, if I start to fall off, I can just jump off, and stay on my bike. Quinn did the log traversal with the ramps, and, Quinn and Amy got a little bit of front tire air off of a dirt ramp! It was tough to go home after such a short run — but — we have a game to prepare for! Go Tech!
I wore my new Garmin for the ride, so you can follow along. You’ll notice that my heart rate only gets high when we’re on the obstacle course! Be sure and click the link to go to the site — you can even hit play on the map, and watch the altitude, speed, and heart rate vary over the duration. Enjoy!
Original post available here: Family Mountain Biking at Blanket’s Creek