11. May 2008 by admin.

The company I work for sent me to Roanoke, Virginia for two weeks to work on some new projects.  I met a co-worker of mine there who lent me his Trek Navigator comfort bike for the weekend since he was headed off on some business.  He also suggested a few good areas around Roanoke for trail riding and gave me a few maps and pamphlets.  This business trip wasn’t going to be completely dull for me after all!  Previously, I had packed some cycling shorts and a polyester sports shirt hoping to land an opportunity to rent a bike somewhere for the weekend, so this was a super deal for me.

I got up Saturday morning, flipped through the maps and pamphlets and decided to explore the trails around Cravin’s Cove Reservoir on the northwest end of town.  Water plus thick forest is always a great idea for some scenic riding.  The bicycle, however, needed it’s very-dry chain oiled, brakes adjusted, and its high stem pushed out and down for a more mountain bike riding position.  After a quick check of Google Maps, I set out for Cardinal Bicycle shop since it was closest to my inn and had some good reviews.  When I got there I bought a foldable set of Allen wrenches and a bike mechanic there let me spray the chain and rear dérailleur down with oil.  After about 40 minutes of adjusting and pumping up the tires, the bike was ready for riding.

I took a gallon of Gatorade and some granola bars and took off for Cravin’s Cove with the bike in the back of my rental car.  After a few track-backs and turn-arounds, I found the road leading out to the reservoir.  The Cove requires a $2 dollar day pass for out-of-towners and then you park near the trail-head of the trail system.  I strapped my camera onto my handlebars and put my 32 ounce water bottle in the cage; I didn’t really want to buy a camel-back or backpack since I was only going to be using the bike for one day, so I was stuck with this meager supply of beverage.  However, I soon found out this was just about the right amount for the shady trail I was to be riding on.

I started pedaling out into the forest and it was like stepping into the realm of a fairy tale.  The trees and ferns were vibrant green, the air was filled with the sound of a hundred different kinds of birds and the fragrance of dampness and sweet smelling plants.  The trail was marked on the map as a “beginners trail” so it was wide with only a few steep parts; then again, the region was only hilly with no really steep or large mountains like I was used to in the Pocatello area.  All the trails here were shady due to the density of the forest trees which was yet another stark difference to the treeless desert paths of the majority of Idaho.  After about 4 miles or so, my water bottle was two-thirds empty so I thought I’d better head back.  Being the foolish adventurer that I am, I decided to try out an intermediate trail that led back in the general direction of where my car was parked, or so I thought.  Navigation in treeless Idaho is much easier than in real forests, just in case you didn’t know

Going down the intermediate trail felt a lot like the City Creek trail of Pocatello, except the City Creek trail is tougher.  There was some roots to go over on this single-track trail, twists and turns, a log to hop over (I dismounted and pushed my bike over… I’ve never learned how to bunny hop ;-p), and a stream to splash through, which I relished!  After a mile of this trail, I thought “hmm, ok, I’d better play it safe and head back the way I came.  I know what is behind me, I do not know what lies ahead of me on this trail.”  So I raced back to the car at top speed, which was exhilarating.  Not a bad ride at all.  The next time I come out to Roanoke, I’ll bring a backpack so I can carry more hydration and really give this trail system a good exploring!  Enjoy the photo gallery!

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20. April 2008 by admin.

A few other people seem to have invented this word before I could. Rats. Ah, well, it’s a great hobby nevertheless, and one that I’ve started last week! Driving a car around to take interesting photos is too fast; you miss a lot in a car, I think. Besides, a car can’t go all the places a mountain bike can. Heck, a Hummer can’t go where a mountain bike can either! And hiking around for photo opportunities is kind of slow and time consuming. Thus, cyclophotography is the answer! If you take a look at my blogroll, you’ll see that I’m certainly not the first one to discover this.

The camera I use is a Sony Cybershot (4.1 Megapixel). Yeah, not a stupendous camera, but it does the job for at least web-quality photos. I then use ImageMagick programs and a few Perl scripts I wrote to auto-generate different sizes of each photo, sharpen them, and produce an HTML gallery. Yes, to most people this is kind of crazy since there are much easier ways to create web galleries than this, but then again those are the kind of people who drive to work everyday instead of riding their bicycles, right?

So anyway, this is my very first official cyclophotography gallery taken along Gibson Jack road in southern Pocatello, Idaho while riding my favorite road bicycle. It was around 7:00 pm and the sun was getting close to setting, but I took a few shots before it got dark. Not a very wonderful gallery but I’m sure I’ll find some more interesting scenes to shoot as the warm season goes on… or rather if it ever gets here!

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15. April 2008 by admin.

Last Sunday (April 13) the weather was wonderful, finally. And I could tell everyone else in the area was grateful; lots of motorcyclists and bicyclists were out along with people doing yard work and even a few people just laying out and sunning themselves. Yes, it has been a long, cold winter and spring.

So, I decided to explore an unexplored territory for me: Blackrock canyon.

It’s a rather nice place with restrooms, picnic tables, gazebos and a table map of the trail system. According to the map, you can go up one of the trails that turn to the left and it goes all the way up and over China Peak, down to Barton road and back to Pocatello. I’ve gotta do that trail sometime. Anyway, I explored as far up each trail as I could go without getting into mud. About 500 feet up each hill and you run into “glacial runoff” as I call it. I even slipped in the mud while try to see what was over one of the ridges; ah, but what is a mountain biking adventure without getting filthy? Blackrock Canyon seems to be a favorite among equestrians; I saw about 10 or so horseback riders up there. That’s actually one of the no-so-attractive things about this area: the trails are pretty beaten to death by horse hooves so the dirt is rather loose and so spinning out and sinking in the loose dirt is commonplace. Oh, and here’s a pic of the bike I was riding… yes, it’s another Taiwan special

I would have posted photos of the area but, alas, I forgot to bring along my camera. Meh, anyway, I’ll remember next time. I promise. :-p

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6. April 2008 by admin.

Last Tuesday evening (April 1), I did my first Tuesday Night Ride with Idaho Cycling Enthusiasts (ICE), which makes my second event participation with ICE (I did the practice Time Trial as well, previously) . About 5 other folks showed up, one of which I recognized from the practice TT. The majority of the other riders had bicycles with names and features that look rather foreign to me, whereas I was riding this thing:

Oh, yes, I can just hear the oohs and ahs and the smell of green envy in the air. This is a geniune 2008 Mercier Galaxy made by the good people at the Kinesis factory in Taiwan! If you’re still wondering what the heck you’re looking at, just google around for some of these keywords and you will be enlightened.

Anyway, on my with my story. Yes, I was wearing my baggy windbreaker outfit and riding my rack-sporting road bike; quite a stark contrast from the aerodynamic clothing and carbon fiber bicycles of my companions. But, hey, I’m a newbie and I wasn’t afraid to fit the stereotype

So, the ride began. We were all pedaling along at around 16 mph or so, quick cadence with a light gear. It was easy and I was mainly focusing on practicing my drafting. The lady I was riding next to (sorry, I’m horrible with names) was giving me some helpful coaching which I appreciated. I was told before the ride that the first rides of the year are purposely easy to acclimate the riders for the season. So, I was really glad I got into these rides early. Even though I’ve been riding a lot for the past year and a half or so, I knew that the folks I was riding with had been at it for probably centuries. TEE HEE, I love puns!

Riding along with ICE felt pretty fun and it was interesting to ride with people I don’t normally ride with and just soak in everything about the experience; their clothing, their riding technique, and so on. After we turned around in Inkom, I was shifting gears and my chain fell off. DOH! Yeah, something I must adjust ASAP. So I stopped, fed the chain back onto a chain ring, and by that time the cyclists were far ahead, even though I could tell they were slowing down so I could have the chance to catch up again. As I continued cycling I noticed another rider had stopped and was tried to adjust something-or-other on his bike… this made me feel a little better! I was huffing and puffing to catch up after a while and my good friend Steven Parker fell back a ways and was pushing on my bike to help me catch up, much to my shame! Hehe, yes, I know there’s no shame in accepting help when you need it but… meh. Anyway, it was rather startling at first because no one had ever pushed on by bike before… I thought my rear tire had gone flat or something…. and then I was like … what the heck… OH, HI STEVE!

During the last quarter of the ride, I was really starting to poop out. And then it happened… the steep hill going up under the underpass near Century High School happened… oh, the burn… I felt it… in my thighs… ARGH, THE LACTIC ACID, IT BURNS! On past rides I usually haul ass up this small hill, but none of my past rides were quite as fast as this one. I fell behind. Way behind. Sigh. I eventually pedaled to the Ross Park parking lot, said goodbye to the few riders who were still there, and slowly pedaled home, chugging from my water bottles all the way. I felt pretty dang pooped and almost dizzy. Yeah, I’ll eat more before the next ride. Carbs are good.

Anywho, this is my first cycling blog article and I will try to do another article at least once a week. I hope I give encouragement to other folks who are new to cycling and I’m sure I provide amusement to the experienced people!

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