Saturday, July 6, 2013

Daily RAW: 7/7/13 - FitRanX, Ghost Ridin'

Greetings RAW Warriors,

Here's another FitRanX routine from FR HQ.
I also discuss my 'Ghost Ride' of sorts that I took on my bike and how it went, plus some other stuff.

FitRanX BW WOD:

 Level 0-3

30 min TABATA - 20 sec Doing Exercise, 10 sec Rest - Do this 8 times, then switch to the next exercise.

1. Suicide Sprints x8
2. V-Abs x8
3. Leg Thrust x8
4. Chair Step-Ups x4 on each side
5. Crunches x8
6. Jumping Jacks x8

Level 4-6

30 min TABATA - 20 sec Doing Exercise, 10 sec Rest - Do this 8 times, then switch to the next exercise.

1. Suicide Sprints x8
2. V-Abs x8
3. Burpees x8
4. Jump Squat x8
5. Weighted Sit-Up x8
6. Inchworm x8

 Check Out The Video Library Here:
http://www.youtube.com/myfitranx
--------------------

My "Ghost Ride" - Last year, I bought a hybrid bike that allows you to get some good speed on both gravel and on asphalt roads.  I took a trip from my town of Finley to the town of Sharon & back. I went 3 miles west, then 6 miles straight north to enter Sharon. On the way back, I went through Sharon and out the southern side of it by gravel once again, heading out about a mile from town and heading south again towards an old golf course that was created at almost a half-way point between Finley & Sharon.  Part of the road going east from the course is no longer passable (under water), so my route had to go back west about 1 mile and back to the road I first ventured out on, returning back to Finley about 5 miles later.  All in all it was a 20 mile ride, and I wanted to do it again this time and take some photos.

I decided to do this ride once again this year, and dubbed this the "Raider Gravel Grinder", as many gravel road rides are called "gravel grinders" in this area amongst bike enthusiasts.  The old school nickname of the Finley-Sharon Raiders was how I came up with the name.

My class was the last class to go to school at the school in Sharon for our Kindergarten year. After that, we all went to Finley and the school shut down for good. I took some pictures of this old, K-12 school building at one point in time.

 
 
On my next stop, it was the old Hill & Dale Golf Course, a 9 hole, sand-green course developed back in the 50's or 60's from what I remember, as a recreational site for the Finley Air Force Station airmen and area population, too.  The Air Force was instrumental in helping construct it, from what I was told. As a kid, the golfing was cheap for the summer:  $3 green fees that you put into a box, or, get this.... $10 to golf for the whole summer as a student member.  A lot of us joined for $10 and got in a LOT of golf through our JH & HS years.  Even as an adult, it was only $50-60 a year I think to join it, plus there were Men's Nights with grilling your own meat outside.  The sand greens were basically target practice, as most guys kept score by counting two strokes if it was on the sand green, and 1 stroke if it was within about a club length of the hole when it landed on the green. The club closed up a few years ago, and now its basically a 'ghost course'.
 
The old clubhouse. Just before it closed, it got new windows and such. Sad to see it just sitting there empty now.

Looking out onto holes #3 and #4. #4's sand green is tucked behind the two trees there, grass has taken over big-time.

Looking out from the top of hole #9, you can see just a bit of the hole's sand green if you look for it.

My bike on the barely-there trail heading up to the clubhouse.
 
 
The ride itself took about 1:27 to do. I had a slight wind going north, but things were good coming back and I was able to get some good speeds heading south.  I went about 12-15 mph going to Sharon, and 14-18 mph coming back.  Its mostly flat with some slight hills here and there, especially around the old golf course. 
 
 
I really like doing this ride, its something that doesn't take a lot of time and its good exercise to get out and see parts of the countryside you normally don't see every day.
 
A future ride may take me to some old ghost town sites within my county.  That may be a longer trek but would be a lot of fun to do with some people as well as a small group.
 
 
If you are looking for a cheap way to exercise and have some mild adventures, get a hybrid bike to take out on gravel.  The tires are not as thick as a mountain bike's style, but have some grip to get you going over it.  Its also a good bike for taking out on the roads on your way out to the gravel.  I got mine for around $275 last year, its a Schwinn OR2 model from Target.  Very good bike for the money, its handled some of these distances quite well.
 
----------------------
 
Lift. Dominate. Repeat.
Rats Alley Barbell Club
Coach Rick Karboviak


No comments:

Post a Comment