No Pain, Some Pain.

Since I wasnt able to go ride yesterday, I wanted to get out for a nice long ride today.  It got cut short a little, but otherwise it was a great ride.  The Fantom really is a blast to ride.  First things first:

Ergon GX1. Not hype.

These grips work.  I rode longer today than I have any day previously, yet experienced dramatically less hand fatigue and zero hand pain.  I really like the way they feel.  The flat spot is perfect for resting your palms, but its not so big that you cant really grab on when going through technical sections.  My left hand got a little numb for less than a minute, and I just changed hand positions, and it went away.  There may be a little too much pressure on my hands, so I may try to adjust with a slightly shorter stem.  I definitely could have gone out for another lap, however.  The lizardskin chainstay protector stayed on all day, but it moved around a little.  Im going to use some zipties to get it tight.

Today's ride was out at the Little Big Econ trail - otherwise known as Snowhill.  Its a nice ride, but there are sections that are super sandy.  Today, I did not get lost right off the bat.  I made it back to the river section without getting turned around at all.  The river section is really nice, and has alot of ups and downs, and great scenery.

Part of the lower section of the trail along the river.  Elevation changes alot here, and in some sections the river is a good 50 feet below you.  Doesnt that water look delicious? Drink up!

Past the river section there are lots of uphill rooty sections like this. There are no real challenging climbs - this is florida, remember. There was a section that appears to be used more for coming down - not up.  I made it up with some difficulty as the rear wheel spun a few times in the sandy soil.  Way out in the back part of the trail, there is some nice open singletrack in a field of grass and palmetto. It was very nice to get up some speed. 

I had to talk to someone out there to get them to tell me which way to go to make it to the back-side of the trail - and then to the parking lot. I was planning on doing another loop, but on the way back in I turfed it pretty hard.  Some really simple singletrack had a branch that lept out and grabbed my handlebar sending me slamming into the dirt.  I didn't think it was that bad, but it was really sore when I made it to the parking lot.  Of COURSE - the parking lot was only another 100 yards or so away.  My knee got a little bloody as well, but nothing serious. I'd take a picture of my injuries, but I dont think anyone wants to see my white butt with a big bruise on it.


Other than falling over, I had a great ride.  I feel that I was really huffing it through most of the less-technical singletrack areas. I dont have a computer or HRM anymore since my edge broke.  However, I am a pretty good judge of effort.  I can say that it was a good workout.  According to the iphone GPS it says I went 10 miles, but I rember the GPS was about 2.5 miles short of my buddy's cyclecomputer last weekend.  Another lap would have been great, but theres always next time.