Thursday, April 09, 2009

Longleaf Trace - USM to Sumrall




Apparently I spelled Sumrall wrong last time we went (Sumrall, not Summerall). It was 2006 - how did we go 3 years without riding the trace? Especially as much as I've been riding the bike lately. Dale and Tyler did great, putting in over 30 miles.
I did a couple of runs ahead for a few miles to see how it would be to ride 18-22 mph for a long way. I think it would be a nice ride. The pavement is a little bumpy, but not enough to be troublesome. The traffic crossings are few. We almost had the whole thing to ourselves today with it being a weekday. It was windy today but most of the time the trail is protected. Beautiful weather, overall, about 70 degrees and sunny.
I used the Garmin 705 as I always do these days on rides. I can look at the graphs for speed, heart rate, elevation, and cadence. For this ride, heart rate and speed are closely correlated, because there are no steep grades on this former railroad track. The elevation does change from 200 to almost 400 ft, but everything is gradual. I captured the track picture from Garmin Connect.
Saw three snakes - a black racer, a beautiful yellow and green specked king snake, and a baby grey rat snake. One turtle on the trail and many on the logs at the beaver pond (in the picture).

Oh yeah, and I mastered "riding with no hands" today! It's a great place to practice.
Must go back soon.