Tag: topocreator

  • One last monster and a summary of all eight

    On my way to the BBL this morning, I had just enough time to head up one last monster – Vesclub to Vestavia Dr. This is also very close to my house with the start of it less than two miles away. My apologies to the BBL folks as I was running about 5 minutes…

  • The Birmingham Monsters, addendum

    When I was exploring the Birmingham Monsters on Wednesday, I knew that I didn’t really have time to go out and hit up my favorite monster in Birmingham – Double Oak Way. So today the opportunity came up to ride out that way and report on the stats of three more monsters and one more…

  • 10,000+ feet of climbing

    10000 feet of climbing in one ride – the garmin edge 800 cannot display 10,000 feet because it only can display 4 digits in any one column as shown in the red circle! As a side note, the yellow circle indicates what in my opinion is one of the best new features of the Garmin…

  • Cold and Icy Double Oak Mountain

    Great ride today – very cold though! I climbed up Double Oak Mountain to see if there was more snow and ice up near the top because of the elevation difference. I was surprised to find trees sagging under the weight of a lot of ice. I think we dodged a bullet here in Birmingham…

  • Last ride of 2010

    The weather forecast for today included a winter weather advisory with really cold temps. We went to visit some friends about 30 miles away near Hayward, WI. I took my bike along to try to ride back to Shell Lake if the roads were clear enough. I mapped out a route that took me near…

  • A very rainy Pine Mountain climbing loop

    I explored three new climbs today on a somewhat epic 103 mile ride in the rain with nearly 8500′ of climbing. Classes ended last week, and my students finished up their finals online today. With the icy roads and a very busy day of grading yesterday, I decided to take yesterday completely off. That opened…

  • Gotta love the commute

    Double Oak Commute What do a midterm exam, excellent students, and a beautiful day all equate to? Answer: a 55 mile commute with nearly 5000 ft of climbing. In the map above, I have numbered and labeled the six major climbs on the route. Also my ride crossed four different river valleys – Shades Valley,…

  • Thanksgiving riding in Indiana

    It has been a cold, wet, windy, and fun Thanksgiving up here in Northern Indiana. No mega climbs, but lots of fun roads to explore with small rolling hills nearly constantly if you pick the right roads. Saturday’s ride to Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes (Updated 11/28) For my last day of riding in…

  • Gatlinburg Climbing and Crashing

    Me at the top of the Clingman’s Dome tower, Gatlinburg valley in the background Two days, 75 miles, one high speed crash, and over 12,000 feet of climbing! Read all about it below… Day 1 – Cherokee Orchard Climb and Gatlinburg Bypass Loop I just posted a few days ago about the awesome Double Oak…

  • The Double Oak Way 1500 (aka fun in the off-season)

    The Double Oak Way 1500ft climb (medium version)Huge version (5.9MB) 3D map of the complete Double Oak Way 1500ft climb The Double Oak Way climb has been a favorite of mine since I first rode it a couple years ago after somebody at Tuesday Worlds mentioned that they had rode their motorcycle up it the…