Womble MTB Trail Adventure from HWY 27

At the end of December, I decided that I wanted to purchase a MTB.  I had test ridden one a couple of weeks before I went to NZ and then rented one in NZ.  By the time I got back home, I was ready to purchase a new MTB.  I loved trail running before and enjoyed bike riding, so I was ready to step up to mountain biking.  I was also ready to explore more the trails that Arkansas has to offer.  My first long distance trip was to the Womble Trail!

Below is the trail map for the Womble Trail. The Womble trail is 37 miles with three places you can park to do some OAB.  After talking to the owner of the The Ride, he advised me to ride from the HWY 27 parking to HWY 270 as an OAB.  He mentioned that you can park at the Fisherman's Village and then ride across the street to the trailhead.  

Saturday morning I wake up and head down to the trail.  The trail starts with a quick and hard climb to the ridge that overlooks the Ouachita River.  The trail is single track and bench cut.  You have to be careful in some spots because it is a straight drop down.  The trail goes up hill before finally going back towards County Road 59.  Once you cross 59, it is single track with a pretty level track and a couple of small creek crossing.  I was able to make it just past CR61 before heading back to the car.  The ride back up the ridge is much easier than going out.  Of course, going it across it a second time I felt a little better. 

This trail is considered an IMBA Epic ride and I can see why.  I hope to get back down there again sometime and do some riding from HWY 270 trail head.  This would allow me to do a couple of outbacks.  Also, while researching this trail, you can call the Fisherman's village and they can arrange to drop you off at the far trail head at North Fork Lake and then you can ride back into the Fisherman's Village. 

Sh#$ Cyclist/Triathletes/Mountain Bikers Say

I saw these three videos today.  I may have said some of things in these videos.

Welcome 2012

Well here is the first post of my blog to welcome 2012 after  17 days!  The 2011 ended up with a great adventure to Australia and New Zealand.  During this time, I relaxed, had fun, and met new people from all over the world.  I arrived home on Dec 19th and have been chilling in Conway ever since.

Now that 2012 is here, I'm looking forward to the new year.  I will have a new job this year, and I'm sure I will create plenty of new adventures along the way.

While I don't subscribe the resolutions, I do have some goals and things I will do in 2012.  One of them being continue to travel.  I will try to focus the travel in US because there are plenty of places that I still haven't seen.  Also, I look to travel more in Arkansas.  To think, even close to home I've missed plenty of places around here.

I will continue to race and have fun training.  I may or may not set PR's but I'm going to go out there and have fun!  I have plenty of choices for races this year and I'm trying to narrow them down, but for sure I'll be particpating in the ArkRRCA series of races and local triathlons.  New for 2012 will be mountain biking.  I bought a new mountain bike before the new year and have been riding at least once week on trails since.  It's been a great adventure and a challenge also.

I will hopefully keep this blog updated more often, but we'll see no promises on that.

Here's to you 2012 and the adventures that I will see!

New Zealand/Australia Vacation

While I've arrived back in the US after a two month journey through parts of Australia and pretty much all of New Zealand.  I took over 3000 pictures, but went ahead and put them in this slide show.  So enjoy the show!  Here is where I visited over the 2 months in order:

Sydney-Canberra-Snowy Mts.-Wilson Prom-Melbourne-Auckland-Hahei-Raglan-Waitomo-Maketu-Rotorua-Taupo-National Park-Blue Duck Lodge-Wellington-Abel Tasman-Greymouth-Franz Josef-Queenstown-Invercargill-Milford Sound-Queenstown-Mt. Cook-Rangitata-Kaikoroa-Wellington-National Park-Rotorua-Auckland-Bay of Islands-Auckland-Brisbane-Byron Bay-Sydney

The Big Trip Australia/New Zealand from RJ Maguire on Vimeo.

Melbourne

Australia Wilson's Prom

More Sydney

I have really been enjoying my trip so far in Sydney. The weather has been fantastic and the city is beautiful. I understand why so many people love this place! You have city life but can easily get away to the beaches. I still have one more day here and then I begin a tour down to Melbourne on Monday. I even found a place to sample various Aussie beers!

Sydney!

Sent from my iPhone

On Board

Relaxing in Sky Club

Packed and Ready

I'm packed and ready to go to Australia and New Zealand! Let the adventure begin!

Planning the Trip

Guide books, notepad, calendar, and the Internet!

The Big Trip Australia/New Zealand

I am getting the chance to take a trip I've always wanted to take! I'm going to Australia and New Zealand from Oct. 18th till Dec 19th! It should be 63 days full of fun and excitement. I'll be exploring new places and meeting new people along the way. I will be traveling solo on this trip. I plan to spend the majority of my time in New Zealand, but will spend the first part on the trip in Sydney and then work my way to Melbourne, before flying off to New Zealand. I plan to leave Melbourne for New Zealand on Oct. 31st and then return to Australia around the 8th or 9th. Finally leaving Australia on the 19th.

Degray Olympic Triathlon and Trail Run

This post is an update on the last four races that I completed. Since my race in Buffalo Springs, I have completed 4 races. I did the Olympic distance race in Arkadelphia and 3.4 mile trail run on August 20th,

Arkadelphia Races

Olympic Distance Triathlon 1500m swim, 39k Bike, 10k run

Pre-Race
I arrived pretty early in the morning to setup my gear. I knew this would be a small race, so I was able to get a pretty good spot at the front and also being a small race allowed for enough room for people to spread out. I went out and got a short warm up swim before the start.

Swim/T1
The swim is always my weak point so the goal was to swim as smoothly and quickly as possible. The swim was a two loop in water swim. Both loops went by fairly smoothly. The only I noticed was that I was droping my legs and not keeping good body position. T1 was smooth with no issues

Time - 35:48 swim
T1 - 1:36

Bike/T2
The bike course is an OAB on roads that run along the rim of Lake Degray. The course is overall uphill on the way out and downhill on the way back. Each OAB section does include some rollers that allow you to pick up speed and get up the next hill! The roads are smooth and recently paved which makes for some fast and smooth riding. I was feeling pretty good on the bike even though my HR was a little higher than I would like, but the goal was to push the bike. I've been working on the bike all year and wanted to get a good time. I came into T2 feeling pretty good about my time. Transitions are a little slow but not to slow.

Time - 1:13:14 19.8mph
T2- 1:27

Run
The run was the hardest part of this race. Once you leave transition it is straight uphill the first mile followed by downhill to the second, uphill to the 3rd/4th, and downhill pretty much to finish. It was a tough run especially on a day when the temperatures were approaching 95F. I think with hitting the bike hard and the heat. I was not able to get the pace I wanted. I was looking for a 8:00 min/mile, but ended up with a 8:29 min/mile. I was passing a lot of people on the run though, so I was happy about that.

Time - 52:34 8:29 min/mile
Overall - 2:44:41 6/8 AG

Degray Trail Run

DLT events started a trail running series in Arkansas this year. This run was supposed to be in March, but keep getting pushed back due to mother nature issues. Well, the series finally is here on the same day that I did the olympic distance race. I was second in my AG, so I figured that this would be a good run to finish the day with. I wasn't sure how my legs would respond.

The course was a forest service roads with some single track. The course was not technical for a trail run, but it was up and down for the 3.4 mile run. The first mile was uphill, followed by a rolling 2nd mile and downhill back to the finish. I finished the run in 26:33. I was out sprinted in the last 100 yards. I would have finished third in my AG if I could have pushed a little more! I was surprised that my legs were able to respond so soon after a race earlier in the day.

Time - 26:33 - 6/15 OA - 4/4 AG.

Returning to Post

I've neglected this for about 2 months now. I have some updates on one race and will have a race report from the Toad Suck 33 and sprint that I will be doing this weekend. Other than that, I've been busy with work/life.