Today I rode 8.2 miles at Springton Manor Farms. The Motobecane Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.
I explored some trails that were adjacent to the park. When you continue down the Bartol Trail there are trees across the trail at the park boundary. The trail actually continues and there were plenty of single track loops in the woods. It is nice and shady. The trails are gently sloping. It was a pretty good workout.
I saw a metal tree stand in the woods. Good thing it is not Mountain Biker season!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Morning Ride
Today I rode 6.2 miles at Springton Manor Farm. I usually don't see anyone on the trails on my rides but today I saw a woman riding a horse.
Again, the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly--- smooth shifting and good climbing.
Again, the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly--- smooth shifting and good climbing.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Motobecane Fantom 29 steps in
Today I used the Fantom 29 for my morning ride and did 6.5 miles at Springton Manor Farm. I usually ride my Raleigh Grand Prix road bike during the week for my morning rides but the Raleigh is out of commission, so the Fantom 29 stepped in nicely.
The Fantom 29 again performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good climbing. I did have to rush it this morning because I need to keep my fitness ride to about 50 minutes so I can get to work on time. My Sunday Fantom 29 ride can be longer. The 6.5 mile ride was still a good workout.
So why is the Raleigh out of commission? On Monday when I was doing my morning ride a rear wheel spoke broke as I was climbing the "Glenmoore Wall" i.e. Pumpkin Hill Road. The spoke was on the rear wheel on the cassette side. This is the second spoke that broke and it was on the same wheel, same side, just 2 spokes down.
The first spoke went in February and since I did not have any bike tools at that point, I had the LBS fix it. When I picked up the wheel I paid $25 and the LBS guy said "You know these rear wheel spokes have the tendency to go one after the other. When another spoke breaks we will probably need to change a number of them at once" I thought to myself, "aren't spokes 35 cents each. So if you did all 14 on the cassette side it would be an extra $4.90. So why didn't you replace them and charge me $30 rather than again when I come back?"
Guess what I am going to do--- I am going to replace all of the spokes on the cassette side. I am also going to put fresh tires on since my rear tire is worn (the rubber has flattened, the next step is the threads wearing through). But enough of that. This is the motobanefantom29 blogspot not the raleighgrandprix blogspot.
So until I get the parts and complete the repairs, the Fantom 29 will be my ride.
The Fantom 29 again performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good climbing. I did have to rush it this morning because I need to keep my fitness ride to about 50 minutes so I can get to work on time. My Sunday Fantom 29 ride can be longer. The 6.5 mile ride was still a good workout.
So why is the Raleigh out of commission? On Monday when I was doing my morning ride a rear wheel spoke broke as I was climbing the "Glenmoore Wall" i.e. Pumpkin Hill Road. The spoke was on the rear wheel on the cassette side. This is the second spoke that broke and it was on the same wheel, same side, just 2 spokes down.
The first spoke went in February and since I did not have any bike tools at that point, I had the LBS fix it. When I picked up the wheel I paid $25 and the LBS guy said "You know these rear wheel spokes have the tendency to go one after the other. When another spoke breaks we will probably need to change a number of them at once" I thought to myself, "aren't spokes 35 cents each. So if you did all 14 on the cassette side it would be an extra $4.90. So why didn't you replace them and charge me $30 rather than again when I come back?"
Guess what I am going to do--- I am going to replace all of the spokes on the cassette side. I am also going to put fresh tires on since my rear tire is worn (the rubber has flattened, the next step is the threads wearing through). But enough of that. This is the motobanefantom29 blogspot not the raleighgrandprix blogspot.
So until I get the parts and complete the repairs, the Fantom 29 will be my ride.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Great Workout-- Great Ride
View Larger Map
This morning I rode 7.8 miles at Springton Manor Farm. Again the Motobecane Fantom 29 performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good climbing.
When I was riding down the Bartol trail there was a tree completely across it. It was only about 2 inches in diameter but rather tall. I was able to stand it up and the have it fall away from the trail.
The second time around on the Bartol trail I noticed a trail to my right. I took the trail and it was a good ride to a hay field south of the park.
Friday, July 4, 2008
George W: MTBer-in-Chief
I guess I haven't really been paying attention, but I just learned George W Bush is a mountain biker. According to reports he started mountain biking in the beginning of 2004 as a substitute for jogging because of a bad knee. He is riding a "Trek Fuel 98 made of space-age carbon fiber with rear suspension that soaks up big bumps. List price: about $3,100. He had it specially fitted by a Washington bicycle retailer" according to the report.
I think it great that the president is a mountain biker. It seems we have a common goal, fitness. We don't have in common how much to spend on fitness. I am perfectly content with my $600 Motobecane Fantom 29 and I saved $2500 over what W spent for his fitness machine.
W rides his bike at his 1583 acre ranch near Crawford, Texas. It must be nice to have your own mountain bike riding park. I do have Marsh Creek State Park that I ride nearby. It is 1705 acres with a 535 acre lake and the government takes care of it for me (and everyone else) !
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Awesome Job Chester County Parks & Recreation !!!
In the last post I wrote about a downed tree on the Bartol Trail at Springton Manor Farm. I emailed the Park Superintendent at 12:33 pm on June 22. The Park Superintendent emailed me back at 8:57 am on June 23 and said he would take care of it. Today when I rode, the tree was moved off of the trail. Great job Chester County Parks & Recreation !
From their website:
Celebrating our 50th year!
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Board was constituted January 1, 1958 for the purpose of "coordinating and promoting park and recreation facilities for Chester County."
In 1962, Nottingham County Park was the first park dedicated within the Chester County Park system. Since then, Hibernia (1963), Warwick (1973), Springton Manor Farm (1988) and Black Rock Sanctuary (2003) have been dedicated.
The Department presently manages over 4,500 acres of public parkland for passive recreation.
The Park system is great and there are several parks nearby. On my rode bike I have ridden to Warwick and Hibernia Parks. I also frequently use the Struble trail to go to Downingtown.
I rode 7.4 miles concentrating on my climbing. It was a good workout with the temperature already near 80 degrees before 9:00 am. Again the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good traction for the climbing.
I did make some slight adjustment to my brake levers and shifters. I have been feeling some discomfort in my wrists. I think that my wrists are still slightly bent back. I rotated the brake levers and shifters a few degrees toward the ground and it made a huge improvement. I will monitor this more to see if further adjustments are needed.
From their website:
Celebrating our 50th year!
The Chester County Parks & Recreation Board was constituted January 1, 1958 for the purpose of "coordinating and promoting park and recreation facilities for Chester County."
In 1962, Nottingham County Park was the first park dedicated within the Chester County Park system. Since then, Hibernia (1963), Warwick (1973), Springton Manor Farm (1988) and Black Rock Sanctuary (2003) have been dedicated.
The Department presently manages over 4,500 acres of public parkland for passive recreation.
The Park system is great and there are several parks nearby. On my rode bike I have ridden to Warwick and Hibernia Parks. I also frequently use the Struble trail to go to Downingtown.
I rode 7.4 miles concentrating on my climbing. It was a good workout with the temperature already near 80 degrees before 9:00 am. Again the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good traction for the climbing.
I did make some slight adjustment to my brake levers and shifters. I have been feeling some discomfort in my wrists. I think that my wrists are still slightly bent back. I rotated the brake levers and shifters a few degrees toward the ground and it made a huge improvement. I will monitor this more to see if further adjustments are needed.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Return to Springton Manor
I am changing up my riding routine for the summer. The weather is so nice that I will be going on longer road bike rides on Saturday mornings. I will probably just be doing quick rides on the Fantom 29 to Springton Manor Farms on Sundays before Church.
Today I rode 8.0 miles to Springton Manor Farms. I haven't ridden there since March 29. Things have changed. The trail that I would pickup at Burgess Park on RT 282 was overgrown with sticker bushes for about half the length, so I avoided it on the return trip.
When I got to the park I took my usual ride but was prevented from getting on the Bartol Trail at the south end of the park by a felled tree. I was able to find another access point. They were able to remove that huge downed tree that I was playing around on in my March 15 post. I emailed the park superintendent to see if they can remove this tree.
At the Farm you can see a lot of farm animals and other wildlife. I saw a couple of goats standing on some big boulders. There are also horses, sheep and chickens. I also saw a family of gophers on the trail.
I have been starting to work on my climbing legs more on my road bike riding. There is a hill on Pumpkin Hill Road that I call the Glenmoore Wall after the famous Manayunk Wall.The "Manayunk Wall" is an inclined street, comprising all of Levering Street and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue, that is a part of the Philadelphia International Championship, an annual one day bicycle race. The Manayunk Wall has a rise of 220 ft and a grade that varies between 6.5 and 17%. The Glenmoore Wall has a rise of 262 ft over about 0.5 miles which give a grade of 9.0%. It varies from 4.1 to 17.1%. I figure this all out on an elevation profiler tool.
There is also a similar climb at Springton Manor with a 223 ft rise for a grade of 9%, varying from 6.5 to 11.8%. This one is tougher because it is on grass with the fat MotoRaptor tires.
Today I rode 8.0 miles to Springton Manor Farms. I haven't ridden there since March 29. Things have changed. The trail that I would pickup at Burgess Park on RT 282 was overgrown with sticker bushes for about half the length, so I avoided it on the return trip.
When I got to the park I took my usual ride but was prevented from getting on the Bartol Trail at the south end of the park by a felled tree. I was able to find another access point. They were able to remove that huge downed tree that I was playing around on in my March 15 post. I emailed the park superintendent to see if they can remove this tree.
At the Farm you can see a lot of farm animals and other wildlife. I saw a couple of goats standing on some big boulders. There are also horses, sheep and chickens. I also saw a family of gophers on the trail.
I have been starting to work on my climbing legs more on my road bike riding. There is a hill on Pumpkin Hill Road that I call the Glenmoore Wall after the famous Manayunk Wall.The "Manayunk Wall" is an inclined street, comprising all of Levering Street and a few blocks of Lyceum Avenue, that is a part of the Philadelphia International Championship, an annual one day bicycle race. The Manayunk Wall has a rise of 220 ft and a grade that varies between 6.5 and 17%. The Glenmoore Wall has a rise of 262 ft over about 0.5 miles which give a grade of 9.0%. It varies from 4.1 to 17.1%. I figure this all out on an elevation profiler tool.
There is also a similar climb at Springton Manor with a 223 ft rise for a grade of 9%, varying from 6.5 to 11.8%. This one is tougher because it is on grass with the fat MotoRaptor tires.
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