Tranquility Park

Needed to get out of the house this afternoon. Decided to check out the Bike Masters Monday mountain bike ride. Was my first time riding the Tranquility Trails. I forgot the heart monitor so felt better to fore go the big hill - the other hills were getting my heart rate up.

Good weather (not too hot, nice breeze). Just what I needed. Not happy to have forgotten the monitor. Also forgot my camera and armor. :(

After the first hour, I was starting to get tired. Part of it was my legs, most of the head. Riding a unfamiliar trail look a lot out of me - though I was doing going. End of the ride I could tell my riding was suffering.

Still a good ride. Thanks Dale, Dan & Robert for the ride.

Damn, it felt good!

Weather yesterday did not cooperate to ride. Even was not sure about riding this morning for our Sunday Morning Ride. The 2 of us (one wimped out on us) headed out under overcast skies. The paths were damp/wet in some areas, but we did not get any rain.

This was the first time in the saddle some Wednesday, and "Damn. it felt good!" No record breaking pace, but steady. When I got back to HyVee, I was really feeling good. Just what I needed.

The pedestrian bridge across the river is starting to take shape. I am anxious to be able to ride over to the Omaha side of the river.

Withdrawal

No Friday night mountain bike ride (yuck!) - ground a bit sticky yet at Manawa after the rain. I took the opportunity to go out for a while and see some of friends.

Ham radio breakfast/coffee this morning - starting to feel some singletrack withdrawal - will have to get out today. Would ride on the pavement before breakfast, but need the singletrack. And with the Sunday Morning Ride on the bike paths of CB -- that will be enough on the road.

Back in the Saddle

No "slower" riders for the Tuesday Evening Ride. So, I headed over to Manawa singletrack. Really glad for the change. After the road rides last week - I relished the thought of some singletrack. And how sweet it is - to get back in the dirt.

No speed records - just really enjoying the ride.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I headed out on a road/path ride. Only went a little over 10 miles. Was getting hot and I have not been sleeping well. Still made about 13 mph on the hybrid.


Will have to see what the weather is this afternoon - think it might be wet for the Taco Ride.

Family Reunion

Was off the bike for a couple days last week - URGH. Yesterday morning I headed for a little (20mile) road ride.

I took my Trek 4300 to hopefully get in some mountain biking in Missouri. About 40 miles N of Joplin - found there is some in Pittsburg, KS - but with all the rains, I opted for riding on pavement.

Heading out for a short ride this morning, a visit with my mom and other relatives, then head u North home.

The "Party Pond" got a workout over the weekend!

Another Record Ride

This morning I decided to ride after breakfast and fore go the Tuesday Evening Ride - after all, the Temp got up to 100 today! Anyway, I rode the Wabash Trace up to Margaritaville. I felt great so pushed it up the hill. Most of the time I was riding at almost 11 mph up the hill.

It only took my 32 minutes to get up to Margaritaville. Fasted time for me. What the heck, might as well fly down to the trailhead and see what a round trip time I can make. And fly I did - riding about 18-21 mph. That was really exhilarating.

All done, I made the trip (not counting the stop at Margaritaville) in 53 minutes! My earlier record was 57 minutes.

In other news - I finalized my entry for the "What's Your Mission" contest. Wish me well. My entry should be published at: http://www.drwhatsyourmission.blogspot.com/

Oh yeah, I made my 1000 miles for the year!

A New Record Pace

Dennis and I set a new record pace for our Sunday Morning Ride -- 14.04 mph! And that was on my mountain bike - how I love riding that bike!

The conditions were perfect -- light/calm wind, sunny, mid 70 when starting out. We made our normal stop (off the clock) at the Western Heritage Trail Center. The rest of the time we flew (for our ride) up the trails.

Lots of traffic on the trails this morning. noticed that the Wabash Trace trailhead parking lot was full. Lots out riding and walking this morning.

Friday the 13th

URGH - the gremlins were at work. The car's "Check Engine" light came on. Then heading out for Friday MtB ride, I got "Low Tire Pressure" light. Checked out the tires but none need air - so went on to my ride.

Great ride - thanks for the ride group! The last section, I lead and had made a fast (for me) lap over East and West Sidewinder. Really energized with that ride. Just have to watch the heart rate doing that - got a little high.

The Sidewinders have been my favorite trails at Manawa, but thinking Fast Track is getting to be the best fun. The photo is of Fast Track.

Backing up a little - God ride Tuesday Evening - 3 of us went to Dumfries and flew back down the hill.

Saturday, I overslept (could not sleep well after the ride Friday night), so did not get my morning ride before breakfast. My friend Chuck came by to visit, check the surplus store and had lunch. Went over to Manawa in the late afternoon for my ride. Good ride, even if not as pumped as on the Friday ride.

I just completed processing the photos from my Army reunion - will get the CD's burned. Now heading out for Sunday Morning Ride.

Thanks for Chamois Butt'r, I could ride this morning.

LOTS of photos

Well, thanks to photos that did not have much touch-up, I got caught up with mountain bike race photos.

MMBC Swanson Weekend -- my apologies, I screwed up with my memory cards. I lost the last 14 pics -- basically the awards. Me bad - flog me with a wet noodle.
http://www.tomwinfield.com/bike/mtn-bike/mtb_races/mmbc_1jl07.html

Manawa MtB Mayhem - over 250 photos.
http://www.tomwinfield.com/bike/mtn-bike/mtb_races/psy7jl07.html

ENJOY!!!

With a little breather before the next race, perhaps I can work on the rest of my photos from the Black Hills. Then start on my reunion trip to Florida.

Sunday Morning Ride

Supposed to be a HOT morning today so Dennis and I decided to start our weekly ride a little early. Took a leisurely pace to Manawa. As we neared the road to the river boat ramp. Dennis suggested we check out the mountain bike trails.

Now, we are riding our hybrids, but I was ready to see how far we go. We stopped a the entrance to West Sidewinder, to show Dennis what a singletrack looked like. He said he was ready to try riding it - so we did. He remarked that he sees what I like about riding there, but he doesn't have space for another bike.... hmmm

Anyway, we continued our ride. The short singletrack ride energized me (and riding with the wind helped) - flew up Indian Creek Trail.

A Busy Week

Well, I got it done. The Special Anniversary Issue of "Dirt Tracks" is out. Thanks for all that sent copy and photos. There's also new content on the T.H.O.R. web site.

During the week, managed to ride the Thursday Night Ride (mountain bike - not taco ride). Good turn out. I rode "my own" course, meeting up with others at several spots. Here's a couple pictures of the group coming out of West Sidewinder.

We passed on Friday Night Ride - just too hot. Instead I got up early this morning and rode the Iowa River trail before breakfast.

We (T.H.O.R.) were very visible in our new orange Trail Crew t-shirts! Some times I get frustrated, but it sure is a good group. (And they probably get frustrated with me!)

Another over 250 photos of a race -- will get them posted when I make it.

Behind in my "work"

Whew, I have gotten a bit behind in posting my photos. I think I have a good reason - been spending a LOT of time creating and updating the new T.H.O.R. (Trails Have Our Respect) web site. www.trailshaveourrespect.org Still lots to do on it, but I think we are getting what want -- and lots more information on the web site.

I have been getting out to ride - keeps my sanity and keeps the weight down. Not lots of miles - a lot of mountain biking. Rode 53 miles on pavement and 28 in singletrack - guess that really isn't too bad for 1 week.

Missed our Sunday Morning Tour de Bluffs - was riding at Swanson before the race. Took another 200 photos at the race. Demo'd a Trek FuelX8 mountain bike. That is a ride I could get used to!

Started processing the Ponca pics. Will get to the others one of these days. I had to do something different on the computer - played some of my "Railroads!" game.

Oh, yeh - the picture was on our Friday Night Mountain Bike ride at Lake Manawa.