Wow, what a great weekend or riding some bikes.  I had a friend come down from the Bar Harbor Maine area and we went for a little ride, and that might be an understatement.

Saturday’s ride was scheduled as the long one.  At least that is what we decided when we woke up in the morning.  Weather was perfect at around 45-50 degrees with low wind.  Couldn’t have been a nicer day to get a long one in.  So out we went, him on his full suspension geared bike, me on my rigid single speed 29.  After about 20 minutes of single track warm up, we started to climb the closest ski hill we could find.  What a workout.  We followed that up with the Red Tail Trail which can be a handful on a single speed, especially with all the ice covered rocks.  We then went to the Cedar Creek area and did as many trails over there that we could fit in before darkness hit.  By the time we got back, we had been out and going for 6+ hours and 33+ miles.  Quite a day on a single speed if I say so.  Maybe it isn’t for some, but the longest ride on that bike for me has been 3 hours, and it didn’t have 2 serious climbs in it.

Day 2….let’s just head out and see how things go.  Sammy likes the downhill, so its back up Cranmore and down the Red Tail Trail again, so a TON more climbing.  The legs felt good so back over to more Cedar Creek goodness to almost mimic the ride we did the day before.  With Sammy having to drive to drive the 4+ hours back home, we called it quits.  When we looked at the clock it was another 4.5+ hours.  Unreal.  more than 10.5 hours on my single speed in 2 days.  There is nothing wrong with that…

For the past week, I have about 16 hours on the single speed.  If you include last Saturday and Sunday, that number would be over 22 hours.  I think that is a good week for the middle of November in New England.  Plus, for the weight loss competition I am in, I have managed to drop 10 pounds off in that week.  Sure I will put it all on during thanksgiving, but I’m down for now…