October 2007 Ride Log
Getting to know the Cannondale Uber...
Monday October 29
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Monday morning I packed my stuff in a duffel bag, loaded the Uber on the roof and headed for work. After work I arrived at the commuter lot off Daniel Farms Road in Trumbull. It was a bit cold but decided to leave my jacket in the car since I'd be working up the warmth shortly anyway. My NEMBA riding jersey would be all I needed. Started on the usual white trail to red, over to “Lover’s Leap” and on to the fire road and over the stream. Rode over to the area known as the “Rollers” and spent some time playing with some of the smaller rollers and rocky slopes. On the way out, I descended a very steep section a few hundred feet north of the old lake bed. The leaves started to cause me to skid and I thought I may just build up speed and surf down faster than I wanted. No problem with the run and made it to the bottom.
Got to the northern end of the old lake bed where I did the small rock roller. That got boring so I rode the short distance over to the jump that Matt had done the Monday before. I did the jump two or three times using the same starting position as before. The last run didn’t feel quite right so I walked the bike up to the starting point as I had done so many times before.
The jump was always fast and each time thought I was going to get launched into the open field that was once the lake bed. Hitting it always was scary but resulted in a nice landing although landing on the flat trail was much harder on the bike than landing on the tranny after the jump. The exit was fast as me and the bike shot out after landing and into the field. It was always thrilling to do it but I always wondered about the next jump and if my luck would run out. During the week before, I had seen much bigger jumps than this one so it seemed manageable.
The run down the slope was no different than before, fast and scary. I don’t remember where my pedals were positioned but I believe they were not horizontal as they should have been. The launch didn’t feel right and was confirmed when I landed hard at an angle, leaning to the left. I knew at that moment things were not good but I could see some small trees ahead and thought I would just run them down or at worst fly over the bars and roll a bit. A fraction of a second later came the collision.
The bike came down hard and seemed launch me up and over the handle bars. The first to hit the tree was the left side of my helmet against the tree. My helmet pushed down on my glasses knocking them off. When my left shoulder contacted the tree, it seemed like minutes that I "hung" on the tree in a one-on-one struggle to see which would break. I really thought the tree would break. It didn’t. I heard a crack and thought it was the tree. It wasn't until later that doctors told me the shoulder blade broke and I put two and two together. I’m still amazed how the brain can process things even when all that is happening so fast. Afterwards it felt like the tree had gone through the shoulder and arm. The bike and I didn't stop until about thirty feet past the tree. The first thing I did was to see if my arm was still there. Then I had to find my glasses which were thankfully near me. Without them I have a hard time seeing. The pain was really bad and I knew some serious damage had been done but wasn’t sure what it was. I had to stay on the ground for a while and figure out what had happened. My collar bone felt like it was broken or dislocated but I was to find out later that it was ok. Dirt was pressed into the fabric of my knee and shin guards indicating to me that the guards took the ground impact after hitting the tree. It was the best $45 spent on gear other than my helmet since my knees and legs had been spared. Good thing since I now needed them to walk out.
At our house in Memphis, Tennessee, we lived near a very large pit dug out for the dirt to be used in a nearby construction project. As kids in the early 70’s, we would go there and ride down the steep embankments. We shared the space with motorcycle riders who would ride the vertical wall up and onto a road. Off to one side the way down was bumpy making it fun to ride. Our bikes had no suspension but at 13 years old, we didn’t notice. Off road bike riding was in my blood even then. It was time to go home so I said to the group, “one more ride”. So I got up speed at the top and hit the rollers. It was the last time I felt the ground until I hit the bottom. A deep fine dust padded some of my fall but the result was a dislocated shoulder. I didn’t know it then and it wasn’t until the doctor at the Memphis Methodist hospital unexpectedly pulled it back into the socket. I ended up in a sling for a few weeks after that.
After lying in the trail for about five minutes, I sat up for a while. My shoulder was in a lot of pain. I was so mad at myself for doing a stunt like that. The EMS and FD could have been called but I figured it wa easier and faster to just walk out. Called my wife Debbie with my cell phone to tell her what had happened. All I said was “I really did it this time”. She said would meet me at the end of the trail near the commuter lot. I estimated it would take 30 minutes to walk out. The impact to the shoulder felt like someone hit me with a sledge hammer. The pain was so bad that I paused a couple of times along the way. All I wanted to do was just lie down but knew I had to keep going. Each step that was not taken lightly was painful. About halfway out I met Matt who was riding his Intense 5.5 into the trail. As I tried to find a smile, he said "Oh no". It actually took 45 minutes to walk out and Debbie was at the end of the trail. In order to get the bike in the van we had to take the front wheel off. She took me to the walk-in at Trumbull Center since it was close. They took an x-ray and wanted me to rotate my arm out to the side but that was out of the question, no way was I going to do that. Although the x-ray quality wasn’t very good, they felt I had broken my scapula. They also felt my injuries were more than they could handle so they suggested we go to the emergency room. So off to St Vincent’s in Bridgeport.
I walked in with my khaki bike shorts on which probably looked odd since it was a little cool outside. While Debbie parked the van, I walked to the front desk. The walk-in had called ahead but it didn’t help get me treatment any faster. Most of the seats in the waiting room were taken so I found a wheel chair. It would be my seat for the next six hours and woulndn't be seen until 10 PM. After many tests, I was able to go home at 2 AM.
Sunday October 28
Nepaug State Forest - West Hartford, Connecticut
Met Mark at the Route 34 and I-84 commuter lot for a trip to Nepaug State Forest. As we were getting ready, a truck pulled in loaded with long fork bikes. These were definitely well used DH bikes. There were three guys and two girls. Mark asked if we could tag along and they said sure but hoped they wouldn’t slow us down. I had my camera with me and took about a hundred pictures of some big air jumps that they did. I wasn’t feeling too brave and only did one which I “dead sailored” but landed ok. With the camera on my back, I decided not to take any more chances and rode a little more conservatively. Mark's ride blog is here.
Thursday October 25
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
It had rained the day before the morning of my ride. Bud was still sore from Monday’s ride so he decided not to go. John had volleyball and thought it would be too wet so he declined as well. I was “stoked” with bike so I headed for the trail on a now sunny and warm day. Fell once on my left side after a wet stick knocked my back wheel out below the drop known as “lovers leap”. Got back on my bike and kept riding. For the first time ever, I was able to pedal up to the top without having to get off the bike. I continued on but didn’t go much past the northern side of the original lake. I spotted a good roller that was about six feet high. There appeared to be a trail at the top so I circled and rolled down it.
I went over to the jump that Matt had done the Monday before. After some warm up runs, I was able to do about ten jumps, starting from half way up. It was a good place to start because I could get consistent speed without pedaling. I would lean against a tree, get clipped in, and let the bike roll. On one run, I started about five feet further up using another tree. I messed up the roll-away and ended up skidding to the left and into some dried sticks. I took that mistake as a sign and figured I shouldn’t go any higher. Did a few more jumps from the original spot but as time went on I thought I was pushing my luck. If anything happened it could be a big problem since I was riding alone. In addition I was getting tired and thought that could contribute to a mistake. So I headed back. About halfway, Debbie called and asked if I wanted to go out to eat (Asian Bestro). When I got back to the parking lot, the same guy who did the jumps before was getting ready to go out. I told him about the jumps I was doing without trying to sound like a kid. We talked some more and he told me used to do DH racing. Matt and I shook hands and off he went to his ride.
Monday October 22
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Met a couple of my co-workers at the commuter lot to do some mountain bike riding. John was using a new bike so I brought my yellow 1996 Cannondale V 500 for Bud to use. My bike joined it on the roof of the Saturn and went to work with the bikes. The ride was very hard on Bud as he crashed at least four times. On the way back from Old Mine Park the three of us separated on the railroad bed above the northern trail bridge. Bud wasn’t up for any more hard trail riding. John and I took the white trail back. Little did I know then, I should have gone back with Bud.
At the edge of the former lake bed, we found the site of a jump that had been posted on Crankfire. As we sized it up a guy on an Intense 6.6 came down the steep trail to the jump. I asked him if he had ever done the jump before. He said that he had not but would be willing to try it. He did two jumps and cleared the trail and pinned the landing. He made it look easy, but nothing I was willing to try. As he brought his bike up the lower tranny to do the second jump, I noticed his spokes looked thicker than normal. I figured they had to be Industry Nine wheels. Upon closer examination, I could see the unique hub design of the wheels. That opened the door for more conversation, telling him I was saving up for a set. We talked some more but it was getting darker so we had to continue on.
When John and I got back to the parking, Bud was waiting for us. He had put my V500 in the roof rack on my car. We told Bud about the guy who did the two jumps. We were still amazed at having seen that type of jump in person. As we were still talking and putting our gear away, the guy who did the jumps returned to his truck. I talked to him some about his bike and the wheels. He went on to tell me the wheels and bike had come from Smart Cycles in Norwalk. He said to talk to Alex. Bud and John ended up leaving and I kept talking with him. After I ran out of questions, I eventually left and went home.
Sunday October 21
Collis P. Huntington State Park - Redding, Connecticut
Temperatures were in the lower 70's. I left the house early Sunday morning and met my buddy Mark at the Sunset Road entrance to the Collis P. Huntington State Park. Fall foliage was out in full force and made for a nice picturesque ride through the trails. We did a portion of the Little and Big Vomit hill climbs. Perhaps when I'm in better shape I can climb them to the top. I was also nice to ride the new boardwalk that had been recently installed. Fortunately Mark had his Garmin Edge GPS because we went all over and without it I would have been lost. I have to get a GPS for the bike! He also posted the ride on his blog here.
These pictures shown above were taken at various stops along the way.
Thursday October 18
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Bud and I left work early and headed to Tait Road. I loaned him my Cannondale Super V 500. We started from the entrance to the railroad bed and rode the downhill to the bridge crossing. After getting over the bridge, we took the white trail south into the valley trail system.
Riding was the priority of the day and only took a few pictures since we wanted to cover some miles.
(No log entries for a couple of weeks, riding instead)
Thursday October 4
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
(Ride log pending)
Monday October 1
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Rode the Uber V for the first time today. Met a co-worker John B at the commuter lot off Daniels Farm Road. While he was getting geared up, I rode off to the other side of the parking lot. With nothing to do but wait, I started doing wheelies. The front of the bike was easy to get lifted; almost too easy. Before I knew what happened, the rear suspendion sank, flipped over and landed on my back all while still clipped in. The Camelbak and helmet softened the fall and I picked myself up along with with a bruised ego. Lesson from that fall is to never do wheelies clipped in!
The trail I was on started with a moderate uphill climb which I noticed immediately was much easier than when on the stock Super V. As time went on, I became more confident and attacked steep rocky inclines. The bike was a little light in the front but once I got off my seat the bike just dug in and climbed. Rocks that I would normal go around I just rolled over. I’m not the first to say this, but it really does climb like a mountain goat.
Words can’t express how great the bike is on down hills. Sections of steep down hill that I would usually be on the brakes I just flew down. My confidence was so high that I had to tell myself to take it easy. Found a two foot drop-off that I just kept doing over and over again. Never did any drop offs with this bike before. I did notice the tail seems a little soft but not bad for a first time out. The bike just flew over roots and rocks. I was able to pick up speed over sections that would usually slow me down. Further into the trail was another two foot drop that I did at least ten times. It gave me a chance to practice landings. All my buddies could do was go around the drop-off.
On the way back we have a section of trail on an old dam that drops a rocky three feet onto a wavy rock ledge. Many years ago I saw someone ride this drop onto the ledge and keep going. I never would have done this with my stock V. In fact, it would have been a guaranteed endo and a collision with solid rock at the bottom. Approaching the edge, I didn’t hesitate. Got off the back of the seat and let the fork take the initial hit at the bottom. I was so thrilled at having done it that I missed my line for the rest of the ledge. Not a problem since I went back and did it two more times just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Rode back to the car with a big smile.