Looking back, it seems that I missed posting in December - and if I don't hurry up I'll miss January as well. Not that it would be a significant missing link in my riveting history, but I do like to take a look back every now and again to see what I've been up to.
But I should take a minute to talk about my progress in getting more fit, since I'm at nearly the one year anniversary of re-setting my goals last February. In that year I've lost 25 pounds and established a much healthier diet by largely excluding foods containing processed sugar. I've pushed my exercise program further than before, logging more miles than ever and adding a semi-regular weight program. And, joy of joys, I managed to avoid gaining weight during the "Fat Holiday Season" between Halloween and Christmas (last year I gained over 10 pounds). I'd still like to lose a bit more weight, but as long as I keep my calorie count honest and exercise several times a week I think I'll be able to continue with slow progress.
Our extended autumn weather continued well into December, with only the slightest hint of snow and unusually warm temperatures. And I certainly took advantage of the conditions to get out as much as I could manage, with over 150 bicycling miles in November, and over 250 in December. Thanks to this strong finish to the year I racked up over 1700 miles in 2015. Now I've set my sights on trying to get in over 2000 miles in 2016 - and I've got a strong start with nearly 200 miles so far this January.
November gave us some excellent weather for mountain biking, and I managed to get in 12 rides on dirt, covering a bunch of the local trails. The majority of my riding was at West Branch State Park, but I also got a ride in on the excellent new East Rim Trail at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as well as Quail Hollow State Park, Beaver Creek State Park, and North Road Nature Preserve.
West Branch State Park mtb trails in November.
West Branch Reservoir at sunset from the trails.
Lots of night riding during the short days.
Amazing berms and jumps at the new East Rim Trail.
Trail work time at North Road Nature Preserve.
More West Branch trails.
West Branch after the snow.
I spent some time out on the trails at North Road Nature Preserve, doing some much needed maintenance as well as pushing to close our final gap. There was also a good deal of clean up needed after the electric and gas line right of ways were re-trimmed. Hopefully we'll be able to get in a bunch more work this off season so we can FINALLY get the last phase of trail finished this year.
New trail armoring at North Road Nature Preserve, trying to close the gap!
Right of way trimming debris.
Of course the majority of the miles I ride are on pavement, mostly on rail trails. And I managed to get in a LOT of miles in the last couple of months, spread out across several trails. All these extra miles are great for my legs, and for my cardio as well. And of course burning that many calories can only help with my fitness goals.
Western Reserve Greenway Trail under heavy leaves.
Little Beaver Creek Greenway in the snow.
Portage Hike and Bike Trail last weekend.
Thanks to the milder temperatures and a massive amount of rain in late December I even managed to get in a nice whitewater kayak trip. After it rained I loaded up all my gear, and my wife and I headed over to the Allegheny gorge area to check out what was running. Turned out that EVERYTHING was running, and it was all too high for a mild mannered paddler like me. But I came back two days later and managed to get in a nice run on Scrubgrass Creek. This is a beautiful, safe, easily accessed run near Kennerdell, PA that has become one of my favorite easy whitewater runs in the area.
Scrubgrass Creek near the put-in.
One of the other things I've been doing is learning to use a new video production software. So I've been taking a lot of new footage, as well as using old footage, to make some new videos. Here's a link to the one for the Scrubgrass Creek trip:
Let me say that I have no illusions about the "gnarliness" of the whitewater I paddle. I know it's easy class II, the type of stuff that serious whitewater paddlers wouldn't even cross the road to paddle. But for me it's become about having a good time without the stress and strain of pushing your limits. So I'm just fine with Scrubgrass Creek as a destination.
As far as videos go, I've put together a couple of mtb compilation videos - just to practice what I'm learning on the software. These mtb videos are on a par with the whitewater video above - no serious rider would ever consider this to be great riding, but I'm having fun without having to worry about breaking any more bones! Anyway, here are the two videos I put together.
Hope you enjoy the videos, as well as the photos.
Right now I'm thinking about tonight's snow ride on the Little Beaver Creek Greenway - it's going to be fun! Bring on the winter!
Much like the majority of the U.S. population, I have to keep a constant eye on my weight. I'm not too bad off, but I can easily start adding pounds when I let my habits get away from me. I stand a whopping 5'-7" tall, and weigh about 180 pounds. The BMI calculations say that I'd have to drop to 159 pounds to pass out of the "overweight" category and into the normal weight group. Hmmm. That is hard to picture, since I haven't been at that weight for over 20 years.
At West Branch earlier in the month
Two years ago I was up to just a hair short of 200 pounds, but slowly dropped a bit. Then this fall I got a bit more serious and lost about 15 pounds. Then I had an accident and fractured my skull, and all my exercise habits were put on hold. Since December I've struggled a bit to get back on track, but I'm doing better this week.
I use MapMyRide to help me out. It has a great nutrition section that lets you keep track of your daily calorie input. You can also log your workouts, from bike rides to gardening, to get an idea of what kind of calories you're burning. And of course you can map your rides to keep track of mileage while tracking them with your workouts. For a free service I think they do a heck of a job and can be a real help to someone trying to control their weight.
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I think there are several things that worked for me in the fall, and I'm getting back into the habits that showed results. One of the main things is to try to get in some sort of workout almost every day. When you have more frequent exercise apparently your basal metabolic rate gets higher, so that you burn more calories every day, not counting your workouts. For me that usually means one or two mountain bike rides a week (during the season when you can actually ride), rides around town, and stationary bike rides in the basement on other days, along with the occasional kayak or canoe trip or trail building day. Let me say that I, like everybody else, hate riding the stationary bike. But it really helps build up those leg muscles and also gets in an extra burst of calorie burning for the day.
West Branch, with the trail loop start on the left, and the end on the right.
One more thing - I think mountain biking has it all over road riding when it comes to workout effectiveness. The road bike thing seems to build those quads, as dealing with the road surface is a minor part of the ride compared to the actual moving forward as fast as possible part. When you're on a mountain bike and riding singletrack it's a way more dynamic situation - the rider is constantly changing position, lifting out of the seat for bumps, standing to pedal, pushing down the bars to preload and then pulling back to lift the front wheel. On the day after a big singletrack ride my shoulders are usually the sorest part, not my legs. So you get more muscles involved and can push out a lot of calories on the way.
Loaded up and ready for adventure, with the kayak on top and mountain bike inside.
I tried to take advantage of my half day Friday today - as hard as I could I tried... But sometimes you just can't make things happen. At noon I headed home and loaded up the bike, kayak and a ton of gear and headed east into Pennsylvania. There had been a bunch of snowmelt and then rain, and all the creek gauges were going nuts. I hoped to head over to Scrubgrass Creek, near Kennerdell on the Allegheny River, and get in a nice quick run or two on the creek. But when I got there it looked a little bit too high for me to run solo.
Scrubgrass Creek
Honestly, I likely could have paddled it with absolutely no problems, but after the last couple of years and the troubles I've had with injuries it's become second nature to take the safer choice when there's any doubt at all. Too bad, I was really looking forward to some whitewater. And I know that if Scrubgrass is too high then it's likely that the other area creeks in the same difficulty range are going to be too high as well. With darkness approaching too fast I decided to cut my losses and try to get in a bike ride at Moraine instead. I knew the area had gotten an inch of rain in the last 24, so I just headed to the paved bike trail instead of the singletrack.
Moraine State Park bike trail
For the most part paved bike trails are rail trails, so they're mostly flat to keep the trains from wasting energy climbing up and down hills. But the Moraine trail was created just for bikes, so it at least has some nice rolling hills. It wasn't exactly the greatest weather, with gusty winds and blowing snow (freezing rain? micro sleet?) sandblasting my eyeballs. Still it's always great to get out and ride, so I was fairly satisfied with the day.
On the way back home from Moraine I got a call from the wife. Seems like Kenny is going to stay overnight at one of his friends house. I'd planned on him and I going out to West Branch tomorrow morning to pitch in with CAMBA on their first trail work day of the season. But with a free morning I feel that I may be forced to try another recreational outing, chasing either high water or rocky trails. It'll mean an early morning departure, but I can live with that!
