Undaunted Running

I have to take advantage of the forest no matter what way I am to enjoy it. So last night I gathered up Shade and my running shoes. Shade is starting to get used to my erratic driving and he knows when to sit up take a look and when it is best to lay down and hold on. The dog cracks me up all the time, I am sure he is telling me jokes sometimes.

When I arrived at Fawn Lake parking lot, BrouSSard was there prepping to ride his bike. Apparently he didn’t understand that it was a cross training night. I mean who wouldn’t want to run this route:

Fawn Lake -> Mine Mountain (Foot traffic only sections) -> Cart Trail -> Laurel Ridge -> Corn Mill Shoals (to Bridal Veil falls) -> Bridal Veil Road -> Barn Trail -> Shelter Rock -> Airstrip -> Fawn Lake Loop (counterclockwise)

Starting up Mine Mountain was tough and got my heart racing too quickly. Since I was on foot, I took the foot traffic only section of Mine Mountain. Before this trail was re-routed alongside of the peaks it was one of the most grueling trails in Dupont. It would take you up and over all the peaks instead of alongside them as the bike path now does. The foot traffic only trail is what it used to be and it is steep.

As I came to the top of Mine, the sun was setting and I knew I had made the right choice on my routes. I didn’t take a head lamp as I was pretty sure I could make it out by the light of whatever stars would be out and normally I am not too frightened of the dark especially when Shade Monster is on my side.

The cruise down to Bridal Veil was nice and my legs were warming nicely. It was nice to run at a brisk pace and not feel like my lungs were on fire. The funny part about it all is that I pick almost the same lines running as I do biking.

We stopped for a short break at Bridal Veil and Shade wanted to go swimming but I had to stop him. The falls had more water coming down it than I have seen in awhile, it was nice.

After the rest I started to get ambitious and wondered if I should just run all of Reasonover back to the car but after I ascended Airstrip I thought better of that. The last few inclines on Fawn Lake made me want to walk but I pushed through.

Hopefully my next story will be about bike riding as the new Monkey is almost ready. I am struggling with what I will call this new bike as it can’t have “Drunken Monkey.” Maybe Plastered Monkey, one too many Monkey . . . who knows but I will let the bike decide not me.

So I actually have some geeky bike stuff for everyone too look at too. I am changing a couple things on the bike just for funsies. I am getting a 34 tooth ring for the front so I calculated some ratios for comparison sakes last night:

These calculated ratios come from here.

Instead of giving you all the numbers I will explain it on non-single speeder’s terms. I mean everyone should understand Gear Inches anyway right?

So if I were using my normal mountain gear of 32X22 I would have the following techy numbers and remember this is calculated for 29” wheels (technically my wheels would be bigger than 29” because of the volume of the tire but we are only doing this for comparison sake):

32X22:

42.18 Gear Inches
132.52 inches of travel per pedal revolution

Now if I were to run 34X22 I would have:

44.82 Gear Inches
The increase percentage from 32 would be 6.25%
140.8 inches per pedal revolution

So if I were to only change the front ring I would travel 8 inches further with each pedal stroke and I would have to push 6.25% harder.

However, I ordered a 23 and a 24 from Marshall yesterday so let’s look at those numbers:

34X23:

42.87 Gear Inches (we see this is the closest I will get to my old mountain gear)
134.68 inches per pedal revolution

34X24:

41.08 Gear Inches
129.07 inches per pedal revolution

So this will be an even easier gear to push than what I currently have. Can you say supreme mountain climbing BABY!!!

So now that I have a plethora of cogs at my disposal 24 – 19, I can be ready for anything!! Except a track race of course. . .

Peace