Short post here before I head up north for the Beer Fest and some riding. I was going to do a pre-ride of the northern half of the crazy 88 route this weekend, but the timing of previously scheduled events kept me from finding the time to do it....so I did a big loop this morning for 40 some-odd miles (Hawes-Twisted-Wild Horse-Bulldog Canyon). This was my first time doing Bulldog Canyon...very impressed....there are some hike-a-bikes hidden on that "double track" which don't become apparent until you ride it. Lucky for me the overcast kept the sun at bay...otherwise I'd be mumbling right now.
Which brings me to the topic of this post. I recently bought a SPOT unit. You might notice there is a new menu item on the blog here, found in the menu bar on the left, at the top. It says,"maadjurguers spot track - track maadjurguer in real time". By clicking on this link, you will be taken to a website which logs what my SPOT unit is sending out to the satellite. I've had mixed results with the tracking of this, mostly due to user error, but you can see my ride this morning tracked just fine.
As my knee allows me and I start cranking up my mileage by going longer and bigger...I wanted a way to let folks know I was ok but would be late....or....I have a Tib-Fib fracture....so get me out of here. I've always approached the outdoors with the attitude that self-rescue is the best option and have never expected anyone to save my bacon except for myself....but sometimes things can get away from you when you least expect it....always when you least expect it. Mostly, it became apparant to me that while I was always fine....I would be out of cell-phone range, the ride was going long, the sky was getting dark....and Mrs. maadjurger was getting worried. Now she can track me......scary, huh? And for those of you asking right now....I will not be carrying this with me to the bar on friday nights.
As for the real time aspect....obviously I'm riding the desk right now...so the real time is a stretch....but had you logged on earlier in the day, you would have been able to see me in real time. I'll be using this on my longer, all day rides as I load up the oddometer this summer....knee allowing, I hope to start cranking some 80 mile days here soon.
They're getting longer now.
1 hour ago
3 comments:
cool, I never did a loop with Bulldog like that. How did you get back to the roads once you finished the jeep road? I always go up to the radio tower then back to the beginning.
Cholla....I continued south on the dirt road after the tower, dumping me out in that wildcat development....headed south on the hardball from there to McKellips, and rolled that west, south to Brown, west again, north on power.
The middle part of Bulldog canyon sucked IMO because of the extensive boulder fields doubling as a road resulting in quite a bit of HAB...HAB screws up my knee. I would love to find another option through that canyon to avoid the doubletrack...might be worth exploring when the temps come down.
the middle part *IS* bulldog canyon, imo. Its all ridable if you are feeling strong, and very satisfying. its a burly climb, but a helluva fun descent, and kinda unlike anything in the Valley.
http://chollaball.net/blog/2009/03/hei-hei-my-my.html
http://chollaball.net/blog/2007/04/bulldog-canyon.html
killer training ride too. last ride was the first time I'd done it with a group, and its much more fun that way. Had I known ya then, I would have drug ya along.
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