Today Josh took me on a route through Aliso Woods… 16 miles. It was quite a workout. I realize that I need to add something like that to my weekly riding… a longer, more gradual climb. Josh also gave me a good idea to copy what he is doing and keep track of my times on each trail I ride, so I can track my progress and later set goals for myself.
Archive for May, 2003
I got to actually test the new derailer out on the trails today, and I’m pretty damn happy… that being said, I plan on getting a set of Deore shifters, a 9-speed Deore cassette, a Deore front derailer and an STX crankset. I’m even thinking of a Rock Shox MTB Suspension Seatpost, but I probably won’t get one, my ass is getting pretty calloused from the seat already, I won’t feel a damn thing soon.
I guess I’m going to be starting up an entire mountain biking section on the site, complete with trail descriptions and photos, and whatever else I think might be useful to other bikers, specifically new ones. I got my copy of Mountain Biking Orange County today, and it looks great so far, and I’ll probably really enjoy riding the different trails they describe… but I’ve already noticed a great trail that they don’t mention down in Whiting Ranch. I think it’s called Cactus Hill but I could be wrong. Now, I’m not putting the book down for excluding this one little trail, but it just made me realize how difficult it would be to get everything into a little book, and so there are many great things that will inevitably be left out. I just want to share the things I think are cool with others… and hey, it’ll be free!
OK, so here’s the deal. I bought a GT Avalanche 3.0 because I honestly couldn’t afford any better but I still wanted to start biking right away. I don’t regret the purchase, because I’ve been having a blast, however, I do have a few issues with the bike. The rear shifting has never been good, not even the first day I had it. I took it in for adjustments a day or so later and the damn thing still just didn’t want to shift properly. It would sometimes skip, and sometimes not want to shift at all. The front shifting was ok, but a little slow sometimes when I really needed it to be quicker. The other issue I have is the size of my front crankset… at 28/38/48 it leaves much to be desired, especially combined with the 14-28 rear cassette. Going up the steep inclines is just too tough, especially compared to Lan’s bike, which has a 24 front and 30 rear.
So, today I went to REI and bought a Shimano Deore rear derailer to replace the crappy Acera that came with the bike, and I came home and installed it. Ok, two things… first, I found that adjusting the bike is very very easy, and I will never need to go to a shop to have it done… and second, damn that Deore makes a big friggin’ difference! I couldn’t believe how smoothly I could click through the different speeds after just a simple little replacement that cost me $35 at REI. Next I’m going to buy a 22/32/42 front crankset, I think the Shimano STX. I still can’t spend too much money but I need to at least make it a decent ride. Seeing as how my bike’s frame is the same as the Avalanche 0.0, which is somewhere around $800 or so, I can just upgrade parts as I see fit and end up with a very respectable setup that I enjoy riding.
While I was at REI I also picked up a spare tube, CO2 tire inflator and Cateye Enduro 8 odometer. I’m getting closer and closer to being completely comfortable when I go out riding. I now just need a decent pair of MTB shorts, a first aid kit, a compass and of course a way to keep my G3 a bit more accessible. I don’t think I mentioned it before but the Pearl Izumi Gel-Lite gloves I got made the downhill rides a lot more comfortable… so I’m hoping a good pair of shorts will help me too. I tore up a nice pair of boxers yesterday while swinging my let up over my bike… they practically tore in two. I can’t afford to do that too often, those Structure boxers weren’t all that cheap.
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We rode parts of Fullerton Loop today, but we got off track a few times and then we ended up cutting the ride short. It was still a little over 8 miles, but next time I will try to finish the ride, I’m guessing it will be about 10mi. Of course, I didn’t take many pics, but here are a couple out of the very few I did shoot…
The long weekend was busy and tiring, but it was good nonetheless. Saturday started with some good ol’ manual labor, moving concrete from Fernie’s to the dump… then Saturday night was game night until late. Sunday we went biking at Santiago Oaks, then I worked down at the Ritz Carlton and didn’t get home until 2am. This afternoon Lan and I rode Whiting Ranch, and damn was that a good ride. I did Whiting Ranch a few times back in 2001 or so with Lourenco and Fabian, but I didn’t remember it being quite so fun. The trails we rode were more technical than Chutes, and towards the end it was a blast. Now I know why Whiting Ranch is so much more crowded than Chutes.
Unfortunately I haven’t found a good way to keep my camera handy while riding, so I don’t have many photos of the trails, but I hope to figure something out soon. I thought that trading the M.U.L.E. for the H.A.W.G. would take care of that, but although it is much easier now with the H.A.W.G., it still takes quite a bit of time to get that damn thing out and ready. I stopped at one random point along Cactus Hill Trail and took a few shots, but they came out quite disappointing.
I was able to take a few shots I liked at game night, and here they are…
Bad Ass Tony
Jarr Rolling Dice
I’m going to need to get Neat Image to reduce the grain on some of my images shot above ISO 100. I’ve seen samples on non-sponsored sites and it looks like the software does wonders. I guess I’ll just have to deal with the noise until then.
Tomorrow Lan and I are going to ride Chutes again, but maybe this time we’ll skip 2 of the 3 b’s, because it’s been non-stop action for the past 3 days, and I’m pretty fatigued. We just need 2 cars so we can park one at the bottom and drive up near the top of b #2. I’m going to take more photos though… or at least I plan on it, I guess we’ll see.
After going over the photos Lan and I have taken during our two mountain biking trips, I realize that it’s quite tough to get good shots that actually convey the feeling of danger and excitement you get when riding certain trails. Most of the shots look quite flat, and when viewing them you just end up thinking “So what?” I’m guessing that’s why all skateboard photos and video are done with fisheye lenses, because otherwise most of it would look just as boring…
Well, thanks to Josh I won’t be selling my camcorder just yet… and I really wish I had never sold my GL1… the quality of the ZR20 isn’t all that great (I had only bought it to take some home video of my trip with the dogs across the US). Now I want to shoot lots of video and burn home DVDs. If I can sell a few damn houses I will be able to buy what I want (er… I mean need).
Mountain biking is great. Lan, Aaron and I rode Chute’s again, and it was better the second time because I didn’t need to be quite as careful since I knew what would be coming around the next turn most of the time. Everything went quite smoothly until Lan decided to do what Aaron did and ride off a little drop… and here’s what happened:
He ended up being fine save for a few scratches on his arm… so I guess it wasn’t too bad, but it sure looked scary. The G3 is great, I am very happy with it, and soon I will be getting out and taking pics for my Orange County project. I just need a different cap for the lens, because the crappy cap that came with it really sucks.
I think I’m going to set up a MTB (mountain bike) gallery for all my MTB pics. I’m thinking of not making it easily accessible though. Actually I have a few galleries of snapshots of various events that there are no links to. I wonder where I can put a link to them in my pages without most people noticing.
This past weekend was quite a busy one. 2BBQ’s and a birthday party on Saturday, then mountain biking and the bridal show on Sunday. I’m hoping to have time to get out and shoot more this week. I need to find a better way to store my G3 while I am biking, because as it is right now I stick it in the big pocket of my Camelbak, and it takes way too long to get to it and it’s far too inconvenient. Also, the big pocket is right next to the water bag, and even with the layer of insulation the camera still gets quite cool, so when I take it out parts of it fog up… not good.
One of the parts of the trail we rode on Sunday was a little flooded with overflow from the pond nearby, and there were thousands, or probably tens of thousands of little frogs all over the damn place. I took some pics of them but they came out pretty darn boring, so I won’t be showing them here, but maybe tomorrow if they are still around I will be able to get a few decent shots.
Well, mountain biking is going well… Lan and I did “Chute’s Trail” today… about 10 miles of hills and treachery. Afterwards we went to the Santa Ana Performing Arts Center to see Bonny model a bridal gown for the Bridal Show. I shot some pics of the actual show, and have found that ISO 400 is completely useless for color with this camera. It looks like crap. I did do a few nice shots of Bonny up on the 4th and 5th floors that I liked… here are a couple:
I bought a bike yesterday, actually Lan bought it for me, so now I can do some riding and try to lose the 25 lbs I’ve been trying to lose for a few years, plus the 7 or 8 I’ve strangely gained in the past 2 weeks. It’s all the damn desserts I’ve been having… I didn’t used to be into dessert, but Maria always has apple pie and ice cream just waiting… anyway, I hope to do some nice trailriding, and I’ll be bringing the G3 with me, too.
Unfortunately, last night when I took the bike down to Irvine Park to do a bit of riding before dark, the rear wheel got bent. I hadn’t done anything crazy, just a little trailriding, but it was enough to bend the rear wheel a little bit, and so now I need to take it in to be adjusted. I needed to get the shifter cables adjusted anyway, since they don’t shift where they are supposed to, so I guess it’s not so bad. I’m going riding tonight, though, so we’ll see how the bike is after it’s fixed.
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