Mercer Park, NJ

Beej and I met with the Phildelphia Mountain Biking Meet-Up Group
yesterday for a beginners ride at Mercer Park in NJ. This was my
second time out with them but Beej's first. We had a great time and
rode for about three hours. The ride leaders were very helpful and
kept you informed of the obstacles coming up ahead of you. They
helped you with your shifting, clearing logs, roots and even going up
and down hills properly. They made you feel confident on your bike
and manouvering the twisty single track. As you can see by the
picture Above, A good time was had by all. I can't wait till the next
ride. Beej and I will be purchasing hydration packs today. This is a
must for anybody mountain biking through trails. I will write a
review on what we choose.

Pennypack Park

I had a wonderful ride last night.  Went out with the Philadelphia Mountainbike Meet Up group and rode the trails at Pennypack Park.  What a great group to go with.  They post this as a slower pace ride and that's what it was.  They were very patient with the few newbies that were there (including myself) and really made me feel welcome.  They told us what to expect ahead and how to go around the obstacles.  Did I mention that this was a night ride?  It was, and it was my first night ride ever.  One of the guys loaned me two lights.  I had one on my handlebars and one on my helmet.  That is the perfect set up.  I was a little winded at the end (by that I mean that they almost had to drag me out) but it was a great time.  After the ride, everyone hung out and talked and got to know each other a little better.  It is a great group to ride with.

Philadelphia's Perkiomen Trails

This is a great trail for families or anybody wanting a nice easy bike ride down a scenic and historic path.  Mostly flat but there are a few hills including a 1/4 mile incline at 12 degrees (that was a bear after riding for a few hours).  The entire trail is 20 miles from one side to the other giving you a 40 mile loop on paved or packed crushed stone trails.  You have to cross over a couple of roads but no big deal at all.  They are very well marked and you have a lot of visibility.  Beej and I completed a 24 mile loop on this trail and we only saw one side of it.  We are planning on exploring the other half sometime soon.  Beej got to try out her new bike and loved the way it rode and handled.  We were so tired that we didn't do anything on Sunday as we had to let our bodies rest.  I could not believe that we were able to do such a long ride.  We pushed ourselves pretty good but it felt great.  I will let you guys know how the other half is when we complete it.

I can see improvements

I am very happy where I am with my riding.  I am having such a good time and I see myself getting serious about this sport.  Like i've stated earlier, I started back in the 80's with BMX and Freestyle and that inner biking kid is coming right back to life.  The best part about this is that I can literally see my weight dropping off and my stamina building day after day.  For example, yesterday I only had time to do a quick 4 mile loop and it felt good but I knew I had more in me.  This morning, first thing I did was go back to that park and do another 4 mile loop.  I had a day full of wedding planning to get done and when that part was done I decided to go biking some more.  I went back to Forbidden Drive along the Wissahickon here in PA and did a 10 mile loop.  I didn't go into the mountain trails as it rained the last few days and I didn't want to damage any trails.  I stayed on the main gravel trail and got a great workout.  That is the first time I do 10 miles baby!!!!  I enjoyed it thoroughly and didn't want to stop.

What a great way to exercise and enjoy mother nature.  Best of both worlds here.  I've been doing this for a total of 1 month now and will not put it down anytime soon.

SportRack 2 Bike Hitch Mount Rack

Last week I decided to go out and finally purchase a bike rack for my Yukon.  Yes, I could fit the two bikes in my truck but I got tired of folding down tne second row seats and removing the third row seats.  Yes, the bikes fit with the third row seats in place, but, mud would get everywhere.  This got old very quickly.  I started looking into hitch mount racks for my Yukon and found this one.  It is the SportRack 2 Bike Hitch Mount Rack.  First of all it's a Tray mount rack meaning that there are trays on the rack that hold the bikes by the wheels.  The bikes do not hang by the top tubes or frames like tradditional racks.  To me, this is a better way to do it.  I don't like my bikes getting scratched or have them swinging into each other or the truck.  This was the bike rack for me.  Another huge plus was the price.  Only $134.95 which is cheap compared to other racks of this style.  The reviews were great so I wasn't too worried that it was this inexpensive for a reason.  The rack was easy to put together and to mount to my truck.  Now the Yukon has a 2" hitch so I had to use the included adaptor.  With the anti-rattle bolt installed, the rack is very solid and feels like part of the truck.  I used it localy for a week and worked flawlessly.  Okay, here comes Labor Day Weekend.  I am currently working in Ambler, PA and I had to go to Mt. Olive, NC as I am in the middle of planning my wedding and we needed to get some venues locked in.  So, I loaded up the bikes and off we went (my fiance and I).  I drove around 1,000 miles with the bikes on the rack and it performed flawlessly.  Check it all out last night after arriving back to PA and everything was good to go.  Nothing came loose, nothing was wore out and I couldn't be any happier.

First Flat Tire :-(

So I found a trail here in the Mt. Olive, Goldsboro NC area to ride and decided to try it out this morning. Turns out that the trail hadn't been maintained since May of this year. It was very overgrown and they still needed to finish the trail. The reason I know this is because while riding the trail, a thorn from all of the overgrown bushes went through my tire and into my tube. I noticed it when I stopped at a fork in the trail to figure out which way I wanted to go. It held enough for me to get back to the trailhead and my truck. It just so happens that the trails are done by the LBS just accross the street from the park. I loaded up the bike and went to the bike shop. I ended up buying a tube and a set of levers and headed to my brother-in-laws house. He has an air compressor so it worked out great. Anyways, this was my first flat tire experience with my new mountain bike. I'm sure there will be many more. I need to start getting a ride kit together.

First Outing

So this was my first outing after buying my bike. You have to realize
that I haven't ridden a bike in 19 years & in my head, I still had the
same stamina. Man did I have a rude awakening. This was me resting
after a short ride because it was kicking my ass. I started riding
every day after this and I now have no problems on this trail at all.
I will hope to keep improving.

Email Test

I just set up my blog so I can email photos and text directly to it.
This is just a test to see if it works.

Forbidden Drive

Well Beej and I finally decided that it was time to take the bikes off of the paved road and into some trails. Now I have to give it up to Beej as she was not feeling good and wasn't 100%. She still wanted to go biking as she and I are keeping each other motivated to bike and excersize to loose weight. I started doing some research about mountain biking here in PA (Philly area) and WOW, so many trails!!!! Anyways, we decided to go to a trail along the Wisahickon River called Forbiden Drive. I read reviews stating that it was a great beginners and family trail and they were spot on. It is a wide gravel trail going from Blue Mills Road to Lincoln Avenue. In total it is a 10 mile loop. All the riding and stamina building that we've been doing the last two weeks were about to be tested. The ride was great, going to Lincoln Avenue was not too challenging at all. Just some small hills with small grades is all. Now we had two downhills that were pretty big and I knew whe would feel those on the way back. We made it about 3/4 of the way and had to turn around as Beej's sickness was wearing her out. I tell you, those two hills I mentioned earlier pushed me but it felt great. I feel like i'm getting my old biking legs back. I just loved the burn. Beej really pushed her self more then she should've being sick and all. I give her mad props for doing this. I know that she did it more for me then for her that day. That's why I love her so much. I can't wait to go back to the trail and this time we will make it all the way to the end.

Today's Forecast: Rain....

I have been jonesing all day to go riding and haven't been able to because of the rain. How "not cool" is that???? Anyways, let's hope that tomorrow is better.

My new venture

So my fiance and I are getting married on March 26, 2010 and both have decided to get in better shape for the wedding. We went to the gym located at the club house of the apartment complex that I am currently in and were looking for different ways to exercise. Treadmills and exercise bikes are OK but I don't like just sitting there not getting anywhere. We finally came to the conclusion that biking would be the best way to get this done and enjoy nature as we are exercising. Now a little about me, I used to be big into BMX and Freestyle back in the day (mid 80's to early 90's) so biking was something I really liked. The last bike I owned was a 1989 GT Pro Freestyle Tour Team Model. Very beautiful bike. I had Skyway Tuff II's on it with GT 3-piece cranks, Odyssey Gyro, Dyno x-Bars, well, the works. Even though it has been almost 20 years since I've owned one, I felt like a kid again at the thought of owning one again. Also, I always wanted to go mountain biking as I've never done it before. I used to stick to flatland (old school term) and some ramp riding. So the future Mrs. Sanchez and I decided to go the mountain bike route. Now I didn't want to go too crazy but I wanted to get a real bike (entry level mind you) that wouldn't fall apart in two months. My thinking was that I need to build up stamina first and slowly start hitting trails and if I then wish to continue, I would upgrade to what ever my needs will be. This is where I was introduced to my new 2009 Diamondback Coil EX. It is first of all, a great looking bike that grabbed my eye immediately. It also seems to have decent components for such an entry level bike. SRAM drivetrain, IOX disk brakes, Full Suspension with adjustable shock and forks, Kenda tires and double walled wheelset. The bike is very sturdy but a bit on the heavy side. I need to be careful as I am not a light person and don't want to push this thing past it's limit but I think I'll get quite some use out of it until I'm ready to step it up. I will keep you guys posted and will have pictures up soon I promise...