miles hours mi/hr Elevation gain (ft)
11.00 1:35:55 6.86 420
Wall Clock time was 4 hours.

Scott, Tony and I met at the MADD shelter and rode out to the W4 turnaround.

Scott’s only issue was Tony and I being so much slower than him, even though his disc calipers were rubbing the whole time. He was patient with us, which was appreciated.

I had some serious back pain that grew progressively during the ride. My right knee was also hurting, from the increased exertion, but was better when I stood on the pedals.

The biggest issue though was some autoshifting problems, and which turned out to be my new KMC chain popping a rivet. I had to punch out all excess links to join it back together – the rivets don’t push back in, and I didn’t have a stack of spare master links.

UPDATE 2013-07-09: Oh, heh, the axle was bent also. I had to hammer it down a bunch to get the freewheel off. Luckily, DNP is replacing the freewheel, and Amazon has replaced the chain. I picked up extra quick links, and have a couple of axles on order. I might be buying a Sun CR18-22 wheel with an Alvio M430 hub and 36 14g spokes, along with a matching 9-speed cassette. This would alleviate the problems with a 265 pound guy standing on the pedals.

In the process of failing, the chain skipped to the inside, past the low limit stop, and bent sprockets 1-3. I pounded on that to flatten it out enough so I could use sprocket 4, and I rode the last 2 miles fixed there. It wasn’t too bad because of the terrain on the final stretch back. (W1)

UPDATE 2013-07-09: My back is still hurting, but I’m not on Alieve or Valerian anymore. I haven’t ridden since the 4th. The bike axles should show up sometime tomorrow. I tested out a $600 bike, and it was nice… 20″frame, front suspension, 3×8 drive train, disc brakes (pull, not hydraulic). It was smooth and comfy, but I think I’ll stick with my junker until I break the frame.

Tony’s issue was hydration/cooling/nutrition. He’s been off for a few days, and wasn’t able to take in enough to stay cool and energized. He’s not ridden for a couple of weeks prior, so it took him a while to get into a groove. He had heat exhaustion by the time we made it back to the pavilion, but was fine after a little rest.

The overall time on trail was from 09:30ish to 13:30ish, with lots and lots of stops for all of our issues, but we finished the ride successfully and had burgers on Grapevine Main St. (Tasty!)

Scott’s off to Estes Park and other travels for a week, but we might try the trail again later in the month.

Refs:
http://app.strava.com/activities/64793900
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/319360405
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/337595275