Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Biked to do errands and some extra biking in the afternoon. Then did a set of cruise intervals late in the day. It looks like the suggestions I got from physical therapy are helping. At least something is helping, because my leg problem is slowly getting better.

C • PT 1

Warm out today. Biked long, ran short.

BIking was mostly out to Rogers Canyon plus one trip up. There's no set start point (that I know of), but having wondered before how long the trip up is, yet never having bothered to time it, today I did: it's about a 12 minute climb. Probably a good bit longer (and definitely tougher) were there to be downhill winds.

Ran up top at Happy Jack, late in the day. In lusher parts of the aspen forest there were still decent amounts of mosquitoes waiting in ambush for the weary or very slow footed, but they weren't bad, bad, bad anymore. Lots of dragonflies.

I took a route through the Tie City campground loop. For the first time in a good many years, the campground is open again, and for that reason the Forest Service declined to permit the local summer mountain biking series form using its usual start/finish line at the entrance to the campground. I'm not sure why that was considered to be a big problem, but I guess it was. At any rate, there were zero campers using the campground as I ran through it.

Orienteering at Remarkable Flats, using an old, re-worked course with lots of new connection lines and direction arrows added. It was an exercise in paying attention to the right lines and order. There was harpoon grass, several hundred cattle (at least) and at one point I almost thought I saw 3-4 ants, but it could have been a case of mistaken identity.

Surprisingly cool and pleasant while I was out, in contrast to my expectations for some warm running.

Driving home last night, a roundish, bushy, grey colored object about the size of a medium sized dog appeared suddenly in my headlights. The color was flat and blended well into the dark beyond, and by the time I saw it, it was too late to do anything to avoid it. I was expecting a pretty jarring impact, but was surprised that there was hardly any sensation at all--just a slight thump, much as you get when you drive over a tumbleweed. It was so minor and happened so fast that a few minutes later I began doubting what I had seen and wondered if it had been anything more than some bit of road trash, some plastic sheeting or something.

This morning when I went to take a look at my bike and got started on patching the flat, I glanced at the bumper of my car. There is a little sheet of rubbery plastic that hangs down under the bumper, and when I looked at that, I saw what had happened last night. Quills, therefore porcupine. Which explains also why the object in the road hadn't moved.

Ran an old course at Pitcher Hill, late in the day, finishing up a bit before dusk with some nice up-lit skies glowing from the already set sun. Didn't remember anything from before, and hit everything cleanly. Saw one group of mule deer does, and a trio of mule deer bucks with antlers in velvet. And drove through a lot of cows to get there!

Biked and ran. Also patched the flat tube in the morning, only to see that the patch failed by the late afternoon, after having ridden for 90+ minutes on the repaired tube with no sign of leakage. Oh, well! Re-patched and it looks like the new patch is doing better (this being written a day later.)

Which makes me wonder: how many times do folks usually patch tubes before tossing them? Are there some tubes out there that are ageless, and nothing but patches with only vestiges of the original tube? I suppose the folks at the bike shop could shed some insight on this.

C • patches 25

Orienteering at Remarkable Flats in late morning, warm and sunny.

Took a short ride late in the afternoon, and noticed several hours later the back tire had gone flat. At least it didn't go flat while I was riding!