Rode the Mtn Bike today...

Probably shouldn't have as I was much more tired than I had expected. But I guess that shouldn't be a surprise after riding nearly 30 miles the day before.

My goal was to get about an hours ride in today under moderate strain. I did manage to do that, but I was noticeably slower on climbs and a couple of times I just dismounted and walked up a few hills because my legs were so dead.

I was able to ride for 1:02:08 covering 5.47 miles at an average speed of 5.3mph, at a 11:21 pace. Everything with the ride was going about as good as I could have expected until I started down this long steep and rough down hill section that leads strait to a rough climb. Just as I started to pedal up the hill my rear derailleur jammed on me and stuck in 8th gear. I was 3.16 miles into the ride and about .6 of a mile from my car when the derailleur jammed and I didn't want to have to walk it back. So I messed with it for about five minutes and managed to get it stay in 4th gear. I was able to carry on for another 2 miles before it jammed again. Thankfully at that point I was just up the hill from the car and I was able to coast back with out any real issue.

When I got back to the house I was able to re-tighten the cable to the derailleur and get it functioning like normal. But talk about a pain in the ass on the trail!

I also tried out some Hammer Gel that I picked up at Cahaba Cycles yesterday. This is the kind that you mix with water in your water bottle. The flavor I got was orange and I have to say...I don't know where in the hell they get their oranges, but I have never tasted an orange that tasted as bad as this stuff does!!! I mean, I know that stuff like this isn't necessarily going to taste good, but if you say it's going to taste like orange, it should at least have a hint of orange in it. This stuff doesn't even smell like orange, nor does it even have an citrus taste to it at all!!! Never the less I did drink my whole bottle with the hope it would give me energy like it's says it will. To be honest, I couldn't really tell if it did or didn't. I pushed through at times when I could have quit and I had the energy to climb some sections, so I can't really say it did or it didn't. I'll just have to keep using it and see how I feel on some road rides where I know when I normally get tired.

Overall a good ride that had me burning 1239 calories!