Team Disoriented hit Eglin AFB range today for some multi-sport training.  We didn’t have time to do any canoeing so we opted for trail running and biking.  While the grandparents watched the boys, we headed out to Timberlake for a couple of hours.  Since we didn’t know the area that well, we decided to run the mountain bike trails that we would later attempt to ride.  Unfortunately, Timberlake isn’t very well marked and it was somewhat difficult knowing where we were supposed to go until we stumbled upon the Stinky Creek trail, which was emblazoned with pink markers.  It was a lot of fun to run the trails as we have mainly ran on the street during our training.  I’m pretty much like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz when it comes to flexibility so running the trails was definitely a good workout for my knees.

Following the 6-mile run, we decided to try some of the energy gel packs we bought before heading out on the bikes.  I’ve read that these are good to carry when doing endurance events and I wanted to try a few to find the ones we liked prior to our first major event.  On today’s menu we had: Lemon Sublime, Tri-Berry, JET Blackberry and Mandarin Orange all by Poo, I mean GU.  I can’t believe that people actually eat these things.  They have the consistency of honey and the taste of dish soap mixed with a pound of sugar.  I will say that they seemed to have worked well as I never felt fatigued during the 16 mile bike ride that followed our run.  I’m really hoping that we find a flavor or two that we like as I’m sure they work great.  We have about 8 more flavors to try…I can’t wait…really.

We finished our 16-mile dirt road ride on our new Trek bikes and I must say that they are great except for the seat, which after 5 miles felt like the seat had fallen off and I was riding on the post.  The 29-inch wheels ate up the miles with little effort and I felt like we were flying compared to our old Schwinns.  The shifts were precise, the brakes were awesome, but my bum was screaming, “Get off!”  We’ll be back at Bob’s Bicycle shop first thing on Monday to look for a granny seat.  For adventure racing, I figure it is better to be comfortable and the extra weight will be well worth it in the end (see what I did there).

After the dirt track ride, we had a little time to kill before taking the boys to soccer practice so we decided to ride the trail we had ran a couple of hours earlier.  We set off and everything was going really well but I could instantly tell that the 29er was not as nimble as the 26er that we were used to.  I think that once we get used to the bigger bikes, and trail riding in general, that the 29er will handle just as well.

Ana and I were riding through the woods and we came across this big drop off.  I make it through fine and looked back in time to see Ana doing her best Superman impression, the bike was on the ground and she’s flying through the trees with her arms outstretched.  Luckily, she didn’t hit any trees or roots.  Most importantly, the bike wasn’t hurt at all.  I’m kidding.

Ana handled it really well but we were out of time to ride any more, so we packed up our pride and headed home.  We’ll be back next week with our granny seats to tackle that drop off again.