Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

[pixychick]

Once again, I posted about Art feeling better and he had a few day set back again. I guess his sciatica is not completely gone, however he seems to be able to work and ride on most days.

I finally got results resolved from annual pelvic ultrasound I had 3 weeks ago. Thankfully, It looks like things are ok. My doctor had sent me for an additional MRI and was very brief not allowing questions. Needless to say I was quite anxious. So apparently ultrasound measurements are not accurate and the MRI showed everything normal. Why the doctor would not explain that to me before, is a mystery to me. It may have saved me a few nights without sleep. While I appreciate this doctor taking me back short notice after the doctor he referred me to in NYC closed her practice, I think it may be time for me to look for another doctor. Now that I am on Medicare, I can see doctors in NJ again.

I wish I had many exciting rides to report, but rains have kept me off the bike a bunch of days. I hope to see the sun soon!

 

[serviceguy]

I was wondering if you saw this video...I haven't had time to do so yet.

 

[pixychick]

I just got back from a few days riding at Slate Valley Trails, Poultney Vt. Between Art's sciatica and all the rain this year, I was not sure our annual trip would happen, but it did. We ended up only doing one night camping and two days riding. Conditions were good and we had a great time. During the week prior to the trip, Art's sciatica was bad but trending better near the end of the week. We went and he rallied and had two good days on the bike and thoroughly enjoyed himself. We had a nice mixed group of friends making the social part great as well. I really enjoy riding the trails at Slate Valley. I am a fair weather camper and the conditions stayed within my preferred range.

Today my legs are toast, so no bike today. Maybe the pool later. 😎

 

[pixychick]

This past weekend's weather was pretty nice. I have had a pretty good run of days on the bike and doing trail work. I am feeling over extended and as much as I would love to ride today, I am taking a day off. I needed a nap yesterday and was fighting off leg cramps last night while sleeping. Perhaps the warm weather dehydrated me some. Drinking extra electrolytes today and hopefully back to trail work tomorrow.

 

[onetracker]

I just got back from a few days riding at Slate Valley Trails, Poultney Vt. Between Art's sciatica and all the rain this year, I was not sure our annual trip would happen, but it did. We ended up only doing one night camping and two days riding. Conditions were good and we had a great time. During the week prior to the trip, Art's sciatica was bad but trending better near the end of the week. We went and he rallied and had two good days on the bike and thoroughly enjoyed himself. We had a nice mixed group of friends making the social part great as well. I really enjoy riding the trails at Slate Valley. I am a fair weather camper and the conditions stayed within my preferred range.

Today my legs are toast, so no bike today. Maybe the pool later. 😎


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SVT is so rad! That is a hulla of a tent 😊

 

[pixychick]

Summer is happening. Ride, trail work, repeat.

I have been working at Sterling 2 times a week until section A of Redback is complete. Hopefully then I will go back to Ringwood to finish the drain work going up to Shepherds lake Rd. Volunteers have been awesome! We have been getting a lot done. Yesterday we disturbed 2 bee nests. Everyone got stung accept Sandy. Sandy became our "unstung hero". He also had a close tie to Art for being the sweatiest ( pants wet to the ground ). When volunteers sweat that much, we wrap up in four hours. Still, we got so much done especially with the humidity and bee singing. The bee stings may have helped me, as after the stings I hardly noticed my back aching anymore. I imagine I just got warmed up working, but the stings took my mind off of the aches. Every day of work has been quite rewarding and the days in between I ride if I can.

I have finally gotten through all my doctor appointments. I never thought getting older would result in so many doctor appointments. I really need to eliminate some of these. It just seems like a waste of time and becomes extra stress for nothing. Thankfully a few of my health issues have self corrected and I wonder if I would have been better not ever knowing. I know early detection is the gold medical standard in many cases, but sometimes you need to consider exposure to radiation in testing and the drugs, not to mention the stress of thinking you are sick. Anyway, that is behind me for now and I hope to enjoy the summer!

 

[pixychick]

I rode Sterling big loop counter clockwise today and I did not get stung by bees. yay! Got to see some cool stuff that I would have missed if I was going downhill. Always nice to mix up the direction of a trail. It can make the sights feel fresh. The weather was just spectacular today.

 

[pixychick]

We have been pushing ahead with our work at Sterling. Many hands have made for noticeable progress. Not bad for weekday morning work days. Maybe one more day on existing trails and then back up the hill to the new stuff. The americorp workers are working in from the other side of the mountain/trail. It is great to see the momentum.

I am thankful for the rain. Things were starting to get dry.

 

[pixychick]

It looks like we will be working on some of the older stuff at Sterling doing drains and tweaks for the next few weeks. As much as we would all love to move back up to the new stuff, it is not as urgent right now. As much as we were hoping to get the last section of machine work done in the fall, funding has run out and donations have slowed. If you like to ride up there and have the means to donate, now would be a good time.

I have been loving the comfortable temperatures!

 

[pixychick]

I had the opportunity to do a ride up at Elm Ridge near Windham. It was fun, but most of the descending was near the end of the ride and I suffered some sort of upper body fatigue which was strange. I ended up having to slow way down on the descent, which was a bummer as it is so much fun to let it rip. When I got home, I checked my fork and the air was quite low. I generally run on the low side of the range, but it had gone below that. I also noticed more than usual oil on my uppers a few weeks back, but it only happened once and stayed clean after the initial clean up. I decided to do a reset: let the air out, press down, pull up, refill with air, set rebound fast and dial it down on a ride. I can only guess I was so low that I was packing up on my elm ridge ride. I have been out to ride since resetting and while the front end seemed a bit poppy at low speed and climbing, it smooths out descending and at speed. I am hoping I figured this out and can ride on comfortably after I rest my upper body. I may have been riding like this a few weeks and I am very sore.

Anyway here are some pictures from my morning "rebound dial in" ride at Ringwood. It was nice to get out this morning!

 

[pixychick]

We have an old bike hanging on our back fence. A dove made a nest on the seat and this is the second brood this summer. Mom has not been seen in a few days, but the two chicks jumped out last night and were seen sitting on the ground under the hosta leaves this morning. One flew into the bedroom window on the second floor this morning, so he can fly or at least try. The other one may need a few more days. I expect they will be gone by the end of the day tomorrow.

 

[pixychick]

As for trail work: I have been working at Sterling on the new trail ( Red Back ) on the west side of the park. Where the new trail leaves Laurel Meadow trail, it stays on existing double track for a little bit. The first re-route build section is being done by NYNJTC americorp workers. The rest is a combination of machine build and hand build: some done and some needed to be done. I am working with a group doing hand build. We just completed a seasonal water crossing with stone and some turns going down the hill to the water. Some crush and dirt was added on both ends of the crossing, but the actual crossing is big slabs of rock. I am not sure what is next, but things are looking good for completion soon. I also think funding has been secured for machine build part. Thanks to all that donated and have been out working!

As it turned out, my fork compression damping was broken and has since been replaced. Super quick turn around with Fox and Bicycle Workshop. Only a 30 minute commute into work with it yesterday, but the fork felt better. While my bike was out of service, I took my road bike out for a ride in Harriman. I do not remember the last time I did a road ride on my solo bike ( maybe 5 years ). While I had some hand and neck fatigue after 90 minutes, the legs and mind felt great. ... just like old times. I quickly got into rhythm on some familiar climbs from my past. Harriman is a great place to ride. I used to ride from my house, but with traffic today, I drove over to the commuter lot and rode right into the park up 106. It made for a shorter ride and less stressful. Perfect for me now. I may do it again.

After

In progress

 

[pixychick]

 

[pixychick]

Here are some pictures from work at Sterling last week. I still can not believe how nice the weather has been for working and riding. It looks like we will continue our work at Sterling this fall and most likely not get back to Ringwood before we end our work season. Art will be having a minor hand surgery in a few weeks, so his work days may end sooner than mine. I hope to work through October.

It seems like fall is sneaking in. I have not seen a hummingbird in a few days now, so they are most likely already on their migration to the south. Ours is usually about 6 weeks behind. I already changed my phone screen saver picture to help motivate me for my upcoming migration to Arizona. I really have not thought about Arizona much while I am here in NY, but I know that will change once it starts getting colder. One thing I really like about having two places so different is that I really look forward to the change.

 

[jdog]

Looking forward to visiting again to see what you guys have been up to.