Too Much Time On My Hands

  Well, with the weather, holidays, and slow economy, I have had my share of free time lately.  I'm sad to say that I have only worked a couple of days in the last month.  The free time is nice, but that nagging feeling of getting more poor by the minute is not.  It has provided the opportunity to do a little work on the house and I have been getting in a good amount of time in the saddle.  Despite the cold and muddy trail conditions, I have been riding almost every day.

  Got in a nice spin downtown with Michele the other day.  Started at Huguenot Flatwater, rode Riverside through Pony Pasture/Wetlands, Forest Hill Ave. to Riverside, Floodwall, Slave Trail, Canal Walk, across Belle, access road to Nickel br., and return.  We avoided the JRPS trails since they were a muddy mess. 
  Monday it was a 30 miler on the cross bike combining back roads to Pocahontas SP, fire roads through the park, and back. 
  Tuesday I snuck in a mtb ride on the trails at Poca.  The trails were actually in great shape considering the snow and recent rain.
 Yesterday, I set out on the cross bike at high noon.  I have been wanting to find a great route to get from the house and hook up with the Old Gun/Cherokee/Riverside route.  With the help of Google Maps, I have discovered some nice shortcuts.  I ended up getting in a fun 50 miles.  It was actually a very nice day out. 

Badd@ss Single Speed Banditos

Although I don't really strive to be a badass, I would never argue with the rules.  Rule 9 specifically:

Rule 9:

If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass.  Period.

  So on New Year's Eve day, I found a pair of Joels, and we set out to end the year with an urban adventure on our single speed cross bikes.  Okay, so the weather was really not bad at all, but there was plenty of ice, snow, and mudd around to qualify us for at least semi-badass status.

Dirt Joel was definitely head badass since he was riding fixed.  For non-cycling peeps, that means if your rear wheel is rolling, your pedals are turning.  No coasting.  Tricky enough in a level parking lot, but add slick conditions, steep grades, and obstacles such as rocks and logs and it becomes insane. 

  Our ride covered just about everything imaginable including slick icey trails, dry roads, muddy gooey gravel roads, wet snowy roads, etc.  We basically covered both sides of the James from Huguenot bridge to about a mile east of I-95.  A very interesting and scenic ride.

   Joel G. and I have been doing some exploring lately and have found some new and interesting places to ride.