There’s our Subie! Aside from the obvious that this car has all wheel drive and good clearance, I think this is pretty ideal for our lifestyle because it marries that off-road capability with respectable highway fuel economy around 33mpg. It’s a car we’re not afraid to drive a good distance with due to the cost of fuel. And it can get us to rough trailheads and river access points.

In that vein, we’re moving our Thule rack from our old Jeep Liberty to the Subie. The crossbars will be a few inches longer than the official Thule fit for the car, but will work. The fairing we have is also a few inches bigger but I’ll have to try it out to see what the fit will be before deciding whether we need a new one or not.

With this car, our thoughts are to keep the roof rack for canoes only, much the same way as we did with the Jeep. We never got around to buying a hitch rack for bikes for the Jeep, but that’s our thought with the Crosstrek. The Crosstrek has a square cutout in the bumper for a hidden hitch, but it appears that only one company makes a hitch to utilize it right now. Not even the factory hitch uses that cutout. This Torklift hitch looks to.

That’s a little more involved installation than the Jeep’s hitch. And while there’s no major modifications or drilling that need to be done to install it, dropping the exhaust out of the way requires a bit more space than I have available. We’ll have to find someone who can install it for us. We know some mechanics who might be able to do it for a reasonable fee.

For the hitch, I’d like to get a Kuat NV rack. A quality rack will last a long time, I like the tray style, and having an integrated workstand helps a lot with campground repairs/adjustments and last minute trailhead pre-ride checks.

I’m also considering a set of rally style mudflaps for the car from Rally Armor. They’re not available yet, but the Crosstrek is on their list of upcoming vehicle fits. I am not a fan of their bright colors, but these provide much better coverage than the Subaru accessory mudflaps.

I got to drive the car a little bit this evening (it’s my wife’s car, so I have to sneak it away from her most of the time) and I like it. It actually feels lower than it really is and it drives like a much lower car. It corners well for being so tall and having as much ground clearance as it does. I’ve seen a lot of folks criticize the fact that it only has a 4 cylinder engine, but honestly I think the engine is just fine. Maybe if they put something bigger in it, it’d be quicker for folks who want a sportier car, but they have other Impreza trims for that. Remember, this car is really just a lifted Impreza. The CVT likes to rev low, but it will respond when told. You do have to be emphatic with it when in auto mode. I will play with the paddle shifters when I can get it onto a less busy street and can use them without having to slow for stop lights or traffic. I have never used paddle shifters before, but I do like the manual in my Honda. They probably won’t take much getting used to.

In short, I’d like to set the car up so we can load the bikes, the canoe, the dogs, and our gear and go camping for the weekend. This car will let us do that. We’re not huge people, and we pack light, so the smaller car will work great for us. We also don’t have kids. If we had one or more kids plus the dogs, we’d probably need something a bit bigger like an Outback or Forester. But for us, I think this vehicle will suit us well.

We knew there was rain on the way later in the afternoon/evening, so our goal was to finish before it really dumped. I’m not sure it ever did, but there was a light sprinkle as we finished at 6pm. The trails were in mostly good shape, but they were slick in a few low spots and at stream crossings. The banged up knee pics came from one of those slick low spots/stream crossings along the Green Valley Trail. That one was probably in the worst shape of all the trails that we rode. It was better than 95% in great shape, though.

My wife did great on the trails here. Being on the beginner end of the intermediate skill level, some things are still tough for her. Downhills have been one of those things. She was hitting all the downhill stuff on this ride, and at a pretty good speed, too. Things she never would have ridden before. Things really seemed to click for her on this ride. That was until the ride length caught up with her. We did a hair over 15mi, and she started to get wiped out at maybe 12mi or so. She didn’t ride at all in the past year, so that’s still pretty good.

There are many downhill sections that really swoop and roll and make you feel like you’re on a roller coaster. Stuff you never have to pedal for, and barely touch the brakes if at all. I did hit the brakes in a few of the tight spots. With it being a little damp on even the better trails and knowing how greasy clay can be, I played it a little cautious. Especially after going down and smashing my knee on a rock. No need to injure myself before the Mini Marathon this coming Saturday.

Here’s the route we followed. I had to piece this together manually because I had some GPS issues.

Note to self: Make sure batteries are inserted into the charger correctly before leaving them to charge. I knew my batteries were going to run out on my ride at BCSP, so I put my spare set on the charger. I grabbed them and put them into my pack the next morning, and when I installed them into the GPS out on the trail, I got a great big bupkus. Dead batteries. Gah! I had to trace this track from a .kml file I have for the trail network down there.

I also opted to leave the Forerunner at home that day. It is fully charged waiting for the Mini Marathon next weekend, so even it would have been okay for the whole ride. Oh well. No time data this time around. But I can provide an elevation profile!

It looks like the total elevation change was somewhere around 300ft and we had about 2500ft of climbing, at least when using elevation from the DEM dataset in Topofusion. Can’t compare it to the altimeter on my Oregon due to a lack of a full track. Either way, that’s a pretty respectable day in the saddle. Can’t wait to get Walnut, Hesitation Point, and Schooner on another ride this summer. And especially when some of the newer trails are finished like HP Bowl that’s under construction now and Hobbs Hollow which is in planning stages.

I was somewhat surprised to find that Garmin also made a 1/4 turn quick release adapter for the 310XT for quick changes to the bike in triathlons. I am no triathlete, but I figured I’d order it and give it a try on my bike.

I set out today to get 2 laps of Town Run Trail and the trails at Ft. Benjamin Harrison State Park each. I didn’t quite make it. My leg strength just wasn’t there. I got 2 laps of Town Run and only one at Ft. Ben By the end of my Ft. Ben lap, my legs were screaming. I called it a day and grabbed a beer with my wife at Triton Brewing nearby. I love that place.

Of the trails I rode, I’d have to say Town Run was in the best shape. It was beautiful, even a bit dusty in places that were out in the sun.

White River looked good today, too. I think I might try to get my canoe out before the rain gets here next week.

There were some birds out and about at one of the old gravel pits along the river. Here are a couple turkey vultures and teensy weensy on the lake are what appear to be a couple of mergansers. The vultures spooked and I missed my chance to snap a picture of both of them taking off, but I did get this one. This little Fuji Finepix XP20 takes some pretty respectable shots of moving animals when fully zoomed. Being waterproof and shockproof, I can just keep it in my zippered shorts pocket for easy access.

I didn’t get any pictures at Ft. Ben today. Just too tired. Lawrence Creek Trail has some sloppy trouble spots still, but is drying. It will be a mess next week again, of course. Schoen Creek Trail looks pretty good overall. Not many wet spots at all. The ramps are coming up in force right now, though. I need to find a patch I can harvest without getting in trouble. If you don’t know what ramps are, here’s a picture of what they are. They are essentially a wild leek and are quite potent.

Alright, my assessment of the QR mount with the Forerunner 310XT on the mountain bike. Generally speaking, accuracy looks good. There is some track separation if you zoom in tight, but mostly still follows the same path. Town Run (the first one) is a pretty dense, twisty trail and I’d say it was good enough. I am not 100% clear which sampling interval the GPS uses on the bike. When in running mode, you can choose Auto or 1sec as your sampling intervals, but when you switch to bike mode you are not given a choice. It looks like it probably is 1sec, though. Auto on twisty trails on the bike tends to be a disaster.

It’s smaller than I’m used to, since I’ve used an Oregon for so long. With that said, sometimes small is good. Sometimes, I don’t need maps. For example, I know Town Run and Ft. Ben well enough that I can manage just fine without a map. The 310XT does have a map screen you can enable in the settings. It shows your breadcrumb trail and any waypoints you create. No basemap. That was enough for me to get a basic idea of how far I was from the intersection that would return me to the trailhead on the Schoen Creek loop at Ft. Harrison.

I really liked the QR mount. It uses a standard Garmin 1/4 turn interface also used on all the Edges since the 500. Basically, you take the watchband off of the head unit. You attach the male portion of the 1/4 turn mount onto the head unit using the spring pins from the watch band.

Notice the little cutout on the side. That allows the clip charger to attach without interference from the adapter.

I actually think it helps keep that clip in place a little bit better. Some folks complain that the clip is not secure enough on its own. This works pretty well for me. The female portion of the 1/4 turn mount attaches to the bands with some more robust screws that need a tiny screwdriver. I managed to tighten the screws with the pin tool that was included with the GPS. It has a nice positive click when attached and removes easily enough, but with enough force that I am not worried it will fall off.

It does add a little overall thickness to the watch profile on your wrist. It looks to be right at 2mm thick. Not too bad, imo, but I have yet to use it while running. My knee pain has convinced me that I need to stop running prior to the mini, and do my cardio and leg work on the bike or gym. My rides today did not aggravate my knees at all, though my quads are feeling it.

Now of course, the day that this FR 310XT arrived on my doorstep, I ended up finding my FR205 in the bottom of a box that I brought with me from Texas. I really don’t know why it was in there and not my suitcase. I didn’t end up running on that trip. That’s chemobrain for you, though. Put something somewhere and forget it for a month (or more).

Update 4-10-2013:

I got some fresh batteries for my Oregon and got the FR310XT alongside it for a ride today. The FR310XT originally did not do 1sec sampling in bike mode. I had done a firmware update, but apparently firmware updates using ANT Agent are not cumulative. I noticed today that there were a few updates I needed to apply individually. Irritating. I did not think to check sampling interval to see if 1sec was added in one of those updates. It was, so the option is there for me now. But it originally was not. Here is a comparison chart for the accuracy of the 310XT vs my Oregon 450 on a connector trail I rode a few times today.

It’s a fast bit of trail, hence the track separation.

Here is that same area with today’s ride and Friday’s ride together.

Once you start to pile them on, you start to get a feel for the amount of error involved with a segment of trail like this. The three tracks are more or less consistent with each other. Even though there is still a decent bit of separation, I get a strong feeling that the Oregon 450 with its 1sec intervals (in these images) is more accurate, especially on the slower uphill leg. You can tell which one it uphill by noting the one where the points which are taken at a constant time interval are closer together, indicating slower uphill riding.

Just for comparison purposes, here is a section of trail where there is much less track separation. This one shows much higher agreement, mostly due to terrain. This is an uphill section, so speeds are slower. Relief is not terribly steep, so signals aren’t degraded as much.

I will post an update when I get a ride in where both receivers are set to 1sec recording.

While I was there, I met with Kris who was being prepped for a bone marrow transplant. I was put in touch with Kris by a mutual friend who knew I was a patient at MD Anderson and Kris had recently learned he was being transferred there. He looks to be doing well, especially considering this will be his 2nd bone marrow transplant for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Though apparently he does have quite a bit of organ damage. Here’s hoping this transplant takes and keeps him in remission.

I had to fly to Houston from Indianapolis this time, so I got a hotel and stayed a couple of days. I had almost a whole day free before my appointment, so I took some time to myself. I visited the Fleet Feet running shop in Rice Village to inquire about running routes, and got a good recommendation for an 8mi route for my long run. I started at my hotel, the Wyndham, and ran a lap around Rice, then did a loop around Hermann Park, followed by a 2nd lap around Rice. It wound up being right about 8mi when I stopped at Main and University. My GPS battery died (curse me for not starting with a full charge and thinking I’d make it) before I finished, hence the discrepancy in numbers on my track.

This was a great route. It was totally flat, as you can see. What I liked about it was the surface (the loop around Rice and most of the park is chipped stone, so less impact than concrete) and the shade. The park is very open and sunny (and hot) but the loop around Rice is lined with live oak trees. It’s very picturesque and very shady. It’s also quite popular. Garmin’s new heatmap layer shows it as being one of the most popular spots in Houston.

I’m still dealing with running without my Forerunner. This time, I used my Oregon 450 and I held it in my hand the whole time. It worked, but it was annoying. There is no Pace field option, and the “stopwatch” trip computer screen acts funny at times. For example, if it was a long time since the last time I touched the screen for anything, it would “stop” the timer when I would press the “lap” button. Grr. You can tell this device is not intended for fitness work. Also, when I pressed the “lap” button on the Oregon, it only affected the timer screen and not the track. So loading my track into Garmin Connect does not give me my lap splits that I use to make sure I was running at a consistent pace the whole time. My Forerunner 205 is most likely in my house in TX, but I did not have a chance on this trip to go there and look for it.

I think I will probably wind up upgrading before I find it. I’m looking at the Forerunner 310XT now. It has the advanced training features that I like on my 205 as well as the capability for the HRM and foot pod I want for the upgrade. As an added bonus, it is also compatible with the speed/cad sensor on the bike, my Tanita BC-1000 scale (so I could finally get my body comp metrics on GC), and it can do wireless uploading. I could use it while riding when I want simple tracking and/or fitness monitoring and don’t need the mapping of the Oregon.

At any rate, my training for the mini is going well. Except for the fact that my technique for running downhill sucks and has resulted in some knee pain. I need to work on that. But for now, I will have to be careful I give my knee plenty of recovery time after a run so I can still do the mini at all.

HMBA maintains a great Google Map of the trails, too.

View Fort Harrison Mountain Biking Trails in a larger map

Here was my ride today. I only did a couple of loops because I’m not exactly in good riding shape right now. I also am having some rotor drag issues. I’m not sure how much extra energy it was requiring, but it was something. And derailleur adjustment issues. Meh. I was fine in low gears, but if I wanted more speed and I shifted into a smaller cog on my rear cluster, I’d start getting ghost shifting. I had to run a higher than usual cadence today.

Sorry for the lack of pics (yeah, I know, I promised more). I found the charger on my rugged P&S (freezeproof, so perfect for today) and I charged up the battery, but I couldn’t get it turned on. To avoid being the buy fiddling with gadgets, I left it in the car and just rode. When I got home I realized that I had forgotten that this particular camera lets you put the battery in backwards. Oops. Oh well, hopefully I remember next time.

We’ve got a warm spell coming, with some rain, so I’m not sure when my next mtb ride will be. But I’ll be sure to make it out when it gets into the 20′s again. Too bad Town Run is flooded and closed right now. I haven’t ridden there in several years. I’ll have to help with the post-flood rehab when work days start getting advertised.