Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

I can relate, as I have been wearing glasses for 45 years and am very nearsighted. The last 5 years have seen me needing readers over my contact lenses. My vision with my current pair of progressive eye glasses is wonderful, but no way can I ride a bike safely with those on.

On the bike, I carry a pair of +2 readers that clip onto the bridge of my nose, otherwise trail/road side repairs, or any kind of small print reading, will be all but impossible.
 
pooriggy said:
Lol. This is one of the reasons I don't use my Garmin on mtb, I can't see that shit without readers. When I use Garmin on road bike I only display avg 3" power.

@pixychick I can't walk around with readers on, things more then two feet away are blurry, isn't this the case with Dual glasses?
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Actually the duals have a very narrow and low magnification area. I adjusted very quickly. You would probably get a stiff neck trying to read a book with them, but doing things like texting or installing a quick link, they are perfect. Walking and riding you look straight forward through the non magnified area. Perhaps a good fit makes them work better. I tried safety glasses with bifocal and the magnification area was too high. I felt like I was stepping off a cliff. I just found these to work well and still be able to see what I need to see.
 
I used to carry the cheaters, but reading texts now is impossible, and some areas I ride are out of 3G, so I can not even get Siri to read them to me. Having a small bifocal in my riding glasses makes life so much easier, not too mention seeing little bugs and flowers. I was missing all that for several years. I am on my second pair of Duals.
 
Yesterday I offered to help show someone around Sterling. Being that the crew is getting close to finishing the new section, we opted to ride the new section and bushwhack a small section back to the road. I ended up stirring up some bees and got stung pretty good. I have been having bad luck and been getting stung once a week or so. This time it was more that a single sting . I counted seven red marks mostly on my ankles but may have had more that I missed as they were close together. I assume they were yellow jackets as I did not find any stingers and the stings were close like it may have been a few that stung me several times. Two of the stings were major, and felt like I was still getting stung on and off for 24 hours. I applied a baking soda poultice when I got home. It seemed to help a little, but they woke me up at night a few times stinging.

I did continue my ride after I got stung and despite my ankles being on fire, I had a pretty awesome ride. I am not sure if we are just hard wired as mountain bikers to push through when riding or if bee venom can jack your adrenaline. Either way, it was a good ride. Just out of curiosity, I looked up how many stings a human can handle, and it is about 20 per Kilo of body mass. Not that I would ever want to get this many, but I may be able to withstand up to 1000. With that fresh on my mind, I chose to stay out of the woods today and give my stings another day to detox from my body. They are itching now, so I think they are on the mend.

I am hoping this is the last bee drama I am involved with this year, but just incase, I picked up a fresh box of Benadryl to keep in my pack for group rides. Bees can be hazard for both mountain biking and even more so for trail building.
 
So there was a little more drama this past weekend, but thankfully no more bees. Art got a scratched cornea. His eyes are super sensitive, so we both lost a little sleep as he was in much discomfort. He did not want to go to the hospital and being a holiday weekend, he had to wait it out for a few days. Good news is that he got to the doctor today and doc says it will heal. I know most of you are thinking that he did this with some rad riding or trail work, but no. We were actually in bed doing a simple everyday thing like trying to hug before bed. Somehow my finger polked his eye. I wish the story was better, but the whole thing was a bit sad. The doctor suggested that he wear goggles to bed, but I may need to brush up on my hug aim. It is funny how people are quick to blame mountain biking for being dangerous, but you can hurt yourself in bed just as well.

I have not blogged about eating lately, but have been eating the same sort of way for over a year and have decided to try a few new things. The reason for the change is that I still struggle with energy levels and feel like my mid section is getting too big. I have not gained any weight, but I am beginning to worry that carrying too much fat in that area could bring on future health problems. I like eating my vegetables and I do not think I could give up fruit or last on a calorie restricted diet while riding my bike. However, I may be able to do an occasional fast. Not a big fast, but perhaps the 16-18 hour fast that @Big Dumb Animal mentioned in "This is the End" thread. I followed the links from a few posts and some things seem to make sense. Also, skipping breakfast a few times is very doable for me, especially on a day that I do not have a heavy load of physical activity.

I really love my morning smoothie, but I am beginning to think that it may be too much for me. I started making the smoothie to help get vitamin rich calories into Mr Pixy. We enjoy our meal time together and do not do any eating on the go, so I feel like it is quality family time. I am not looking to change that. So today I skipped breakfast, but had coffee while Art ate. I do not know if I would want to do it every day, but perhaps now and then or maybe even once a week. Not sure about the smoothie, but will post up when I figure out what works for both of us.
 
Glad to hear Art’s cornea is going to be ok. A branch managed to scratch my left cornea through a gap between my regular prescription glasses and my nose this past December. I had scratched my cornea a couple of times and usually a week of expensive anti biotic drops did the trick. I was on a demo bike and decided to keep riding for another hour with a totally blurry left eye. I got home and took my son to a water park since he had been very excited for it. By 8pm I was in so much pain that I crawled into urgent care and got the drops. The next day when I went in to my eye doctor they were a bit more concerned. Apparently I had scratched one of the inner layers of the cornea as well. Supposedly when that happens even if the outer layer heals, it will not adhere to the inner layer properly. 4-5 months went by with me waking up one morning, blinking my eye, feeling like I was stabbed in the eye as the newly repaired cornea would revert to being damaged, blurry vision for about a week returning and feeling like I had sand in my eyes. I think the third time this happened the eye also got infected. I saw three different specialists and they all pretty much wanted to see how it was healing over time. Finally my original doctor put me on a combo treatment of antibiotic pills and steroid drops which is supposed to prevent some tear enzymes from weakening the repairing cells until they are fully integrated. Fingers crossed, it has been two months since the last time I woke up in pain and horror.
Now I wear pretty full coverage prescription glasses while I ride. Would not want to go through that hell again.
 
pixychick said:
is funny how people are quick to blame mountain biking for being dangerous, but you can hurt yourself in bed just as well.
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Wow, you little vixen, take it easy on Art, he's got a lot more trail building to do;)


pixychick said:
have not gained any weight, but I am beginning to worry that carrying too much fat in that area could bring on future health problems.
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I think worrying about future health problems is more unhealthy then having breakfast with Art in the morning. :)
 
Art both rode and worked on the trail today. His vision has been good and not much pain. I can not believe how humid it felt today. Weather was predicted to be ok but felt much wetter. Even I completely sweated through my work pants in the shade. .. and I did not even work really hard. Art was completely wet like he swam in a lake. He was pulling out stumps. Lot A section of Crossover is almost complete!!!!

My mini fast went well. It was no big deal and I broke fast with lunch around 1. I had less room for dinner, but made sure to make extra for Art at every meal. I did make smoothie with our breakfast today and felt pretty good after the fast. I may try another fast in about a week.
 
I got an invite to do a slightly more recreational road ride this morning. The timing could not have been better as my neck has been feeling great, and with 90+ degree temps, the slower more laid back ride was perfect for me. It also was great to be able to socialize with some other ladies, and, well, enjoy the vibe of being around a bunch of inspiring ladies that love to ride bikes. This time of year is always wonderful when the colors of summer start to fade into fall colors. Not everyone can see the subtle change, but I see them like I am wearing rose glasses.

It looks like cooler temps will be here tomorrow. I have already noticed less male hummingbirds at my feeders. The females are drinking up for their migration only weeks away. I have not been to Wayway in over a month because of all the wet weather, and I was hoping to get there some more before I head west on my own migration. Art has signed me up for the Bearscat as a team. I have not done too many long rides lately, but I am hoping I can pull 25 miles out of my a$$ somehow.

As for the smoothie: I have been making a smoothie before breakfast every morning since my fast, but give Art a full glass and a only a half glass for me.
 
Art just forwarded me this picture riding between 2 glacial erratics at Sterling up by the power line on the new section. This was last week, and 10 minutes before I got stung by bees. The crew has been managing the hives that are directly on the trail. If you see pin flags off the trail, best to avoid that area.

I got up to Waway yesterday and got most of a ride in before the rain came in. It was awesome! ... I love that place. My tech skills are a little off. That's what happens when I do not race. If I am unsure I get off my bike. When I am mentally in race mode, I give it a second try or at least try to talk myself into trying. I will have to face that funk at some point, but not yesterday. I still had a great ride. Nature Jims bridge is completely over grown. It was very dicey not being able to see the rocks. I had a tough time walking. The far side is a quagmire of green coated slime mud puddles. I tip toed best I could looking for anything firm, while frogs leaped out from under my doomed to get wet feet. I think I heard the beavers laughing. ;)

pixy at glacial.JPG
 
pixychick said:
Art just forwarded me this picture riding between 2 glacial erratics at Sterling up by the power line on the new section. This was last week, and 10 minutes before I got stung by bees. The crew has been managing the hives that are directly on the trail. If you see pin flags off the trail, best to avoid that area.

I got up to Waway yesterday and got most of a ride in before the rain came in. It was awesome! ... I love that place. My tech skills are a little off. That's what happens when I do not race. If I am unsure I get off my bike. When I am mentally in race mode, I give it a second try or at least try to talk myself into trying. I will have to face that funk at some point, but not yesterday. I still had a great ride. Nature Jims bridge is completely over grown. It was very dicey not being able to see the rocks. I had a tough time walking. The far side is a quagmire of green coated slime mud puddles. I tip toed best I could looking for anything firm, while frogs leaped out from under my doomed to get wet feet. I think I heard the beavers laughing. ;)

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We have been out working TM at Wayway. Nature Jim’s Bridge is cleaned up and we tightened up the rocks. Also tried to get the water moving but I would be lying if I said it was not wet.
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Sounds great. We all know that the beaver always wins and floods that area. Add rain every day and it is always wet.
 
So, the section of Crossover Trail out of Lot A is complete! It is not a long section, but gets bikers back to Shepherds Lake rd without going the wrong way in a one way section by the eagles. Eventually ( next year ? ) the trail will continue across Shepherds Lake rd and head down to the causeway. For now, we will have to ride over to Shepherds Lake on the road and take the Alligator (big Machine) trail down to the causeway. Art has been putting some work in on the alternate route, so that it can be enjoyed now. We have noticed that a bunch of people are linking Ringwood to Sterling on this route.

All this rain has limited my biking this week. It has been good weather for pruning as the wet branches hang low so I can reach them. I managed to trim some of the race course. It really needed it, unless you liked getting the spiders slapped off your face with wet branches. Today I opted to ride the road as I was getting sick of all the wet. My friends called me on their drive up to Harriman and I opted to TT from my house, giving them a head start, and I would try to catch them on the big climb. I have not done a road ride by myself in a while and it was good. We joined on the climb and since all 3 of us climb at different speeds, we just circled back for the last one at the tops. Then I TT 8 miles back home. It started raining 4 miles from home. So much for avoiding wet. The wet could have been an annoying nuisance, but today it made me feel alive. I am really hoping to see the sun soon. :cool:
 
Summer gumbo to start the pictures.

More trail building continues .....

There was a really big fish ( 26 inches? ) in the stream behind our house. I can only guess that with all the big storms, it got sucked through one of the gates when they were open to let off excess water in the pond. When run off is high, several streams converge. The fish ended up land locked at low run off. We feared that it might run dry so we consulted the pond manager. He got out his big net and he and Art scooped him up and put him back in the pond. I think it was a grass carp. If so, 26 inches may be just a young one. We may see him again.

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No pictures today. I spent the day working on the trails. I thought we would finish up in under four hours so we could haul out tools and concentrate on fest next week, but unfortunately no. The McCloud broke and things took longer than expected even with a third person. I am total toast right now and will have to go back next week to complete things.

When we got there, Art hauled some major rocks down the hill to raise up the lower leg of a climbing turn. As much as I wanted to help, there was no rock bar and Art did not want me near him during the rock wrestling match. Once in place, I could gather medium rocks and then small rocks to infill. There also was no hammer to make crush, so just winged it with fitting rocks tight as I could. We did find dirt but it was far, hard to dig out and off camber on the way back. So on top of being tired, my back and neck hurt. I am currently medicating with a glass of wine.

I plan to rest tomorrow, but not sure I will have the juice to do Bearcat 25 on Sunday. I will see how I feel tomorrow. Looking forward to a sunny day!
 
Saturday I rested up, epsom bath and skipped the wine. I slept great and Sunday morning I felt really good. I went to BS with Art and Marianne.

We all rolled out as part of the neutral start, and into the prologue, I felt good. I had Marianne in sight which is a good marker for my start. I lost sight of her about 1/3 way into the prologue, but reeled her back in before we got back out onto pavement. Then Marianne disappeared as she is way faster than me. From there, I backed it down a notch to prepare for pump house possibly being slippery. With my neck, I consciously try to drop and relax my shoulders. I can not do that when I am pushing really hard. It's sort of preparation to keep loose. I made it through some traffic on the first slippery section, but stared to slip about a bit. I may have been a tad over aired.

The slipping was enough to throw off my confidence and I decided to get off at the rock bridge. I have ridden that bridge many times, but Sunday I was sketched out. No big deal I thought, I will get it together. Then a few minutes later I went to put a foot down in stopped traffic, and I lost my footing and went down. That is a problem I have. My legs are short (28" inseam) on a 29er. I can find ground with my foot about an inch or two lower than where my tires sit. Any lower than that, I may lose my balance and go down. I ended up turning my saddle sideways and had to bang it back into place. I kept on riding, but once my confidence was off, the more I would screw up. Then I missed a turn. I just had my head down and spaced out. By the time I realized it, I was too lazy to back track. I just continued to the aid station from where I was.

I fell again trying to put my foot down. It actually was pretty stupid. I got off line in a rock garden that I clean almost every time. Instead of trying, I gave up to put a foot down and lost my footing, flipping down hill, upside down, stuck between rocks, thinking I am getting too old for this. I tried to move and strained my back, slipping again and banging my knee into the stem. You know that funny bone pain!

With that, I decided to pull out at the aid station with a 18 mile ride. So, not a great race for me, but better than sitting on the couch. Art and Marianne both had good races making a worthwhile day between the three of us. As of today, I am saying no more racing for me, but ask me in a few months and I may change my mind.
 
Good seeing you guys there. The wet rocks were a bit sketchy, I tried to not look at them.
 
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