Category: Thoughts

Riding the Huracan300 [Intro|Planning]

I decided to do the Huracan this year as a tune up for the Divide. It seemed like a good beginner course to test my gear and my strategies for long distance touring off road. The route boasts less than 10% pavement over its 340+ mile length! Most of the ride is through national and state forests and some good central Florida swampland. It hits a surprising amount of singletrack, as well as the Florida Trail

2015-03-14 10.08.18
I promise there’s a path in there, just keep pedaling.

Continue reading Riding the Huracan300 [Intro|Planning]

Keep on Rolling

I decided to take advantage of the unseasonably wonderful weather we’ve been having this week to get some riding in. I put off a little work today since Winter is supposed to return tomorrow, and as it returns, my good friend Alan is departing at the end of the week for Colorado.

He’d never been down to the Intrenchment Creek trails so I figured I’d get him to ride the Fargo one last time in Georgia.

I’ve known Alan for 15 years and this move is huge for him. He was the reason I turned up my dream to ride the Great Divide into a real plan. I’m jealous of the riding he’ll be able to do but I’m sure I’ll find an excuse to visit at some point.

I’m still finding new trails down in this part of the city every time I go down there. Sometimes the trails are so faint that it’s easy to get lost, and other times you chase a deer trail for a half mile and end up at a dead end in a patch of privet.

I don’t know why it took me so long to start riding down in this spot since it’s so close to home, but now that I have it’s pretty easy to string together this, the unfinished Beltline and a few other spots to get some good dirt in on a not super long ride.

Today’s ride:

Always be [un]prepared

Went out in the mud today, managed to puncture my sidewall, on both sides, in the last twenty yards of dirt section. Limped a few miles, trying to get to any place with a pump, then had to make the call-of-shame for a pickup. I’ve got all these bags on my bike and nothing resembling a tool or a pump or any means of repairing anything that should go wrong. I’ll fix this tomorrow morning.

Did some thinking while riding today, and I think I will burn my one life-gets-in-the-way card to push back the trip for a year. I want to do this right and I think doing it with someone I love would be far more enjoyable than doing it without.

But now I don’t just have to prepare myself, I have to prepare us. I suppose this summer could be a ride around the Idaho Hot Springs as a tune-up. I’ll continue my training, but now with an extra 12 months added on for tweaks.

…guess it’s time to start shopping for a new bike so I can have some company on my rides.

Today’s Ride: