camp jeep, off-the-front
Took a few days off (6 to be exact) from the bike. Spent them down in Charlottesville Virginia at Camp Jeep. My 'vacations' seem to leave little to be desired in regards to rest. Worked a full day on Wednesday, then went for a 2+hr mtn bike ride. Afterwards Omega and I cruised down to my parents' house in NJ. Dropped him off, slept for about an hour and then hit the road again around 1:30am. Pushed it through the night to arrive at our campsite bright and early Thursday morning, just in time to jump in my friend's TJ and head over to Camp Jeep for the day. Spent three days there offroading, baking in the sun, hanging out with Red Bull girls, getting Tony Hawk and Sean White's signatures and have a great time quoting our favorite movies. Sunday was spent driving back to CT with a stop at Cabela's in eastern PA and an overnight in NJ. Monday I felt like I was sleepwalking at work.
This week has been spent playing catch-up on sleep. It isn't helping that I'm working long days to take Friday off. Not to mention the fuel filter on the AVant decided it wanted to clog up so I had to replace that one evening. House is full of dog hair and needs a good vacuuming. Hallway and bedroom painting needs to commence. Grass is tall. The list keeps on going.
off-the-front
Went out on the weekly group ride last night (switched from Wed to Tues this week). Rocking a 34x21 and was content to work on my climbing. The ride started right up a decent road climb. There I was; out of the saddle pedaling away at a decent clip, not realizing that I'm pulling away from everyone. Onto a gravel access road and then a left onto a nice steep powerline climb. Again, I pulled away and everyone felt it was necessary to ride fast in order to keep up. Hmm. Wasn't my plan but my climbing off-the-front sort of provoked it.
From that point forward the remainder of the ride was somewhat fast and my knee was saying 'no no'. My body also felt like crap. Definitely didn't feel 'fresh'. Perhaps I need more sleep? Perhaps it was the heat and humidity? I began to get worried about the prospect of just carrying two bottles at the 101 this weekend. My Camelbag sounds inviting. Hmm...
A little over an hour into the ride I started recovering and feeling better. Knee pain also went away. This is a reoccuring theme I've noticed. My body doesn't seem to want to cooperate until 40-60+minutes into a ride. If I go out hard early I pay for it up through the first hour. If I take it easy for the first hour life is grand.
The later half of the ride saw trails we rode last week. One particular rocky and steep climb. I was stoked and, again, was out of the saddle off-the-front pedaling nice and easy. Got to the trail junction and was about to head right (to the steep stuff) but got out-voted to go left. So, what do I do? Push it hard with Glenn and 'Lap through the singletrack until we hit the forest service road. From there I was cursing Glenn for running his Mount Snow gear (32x22) and spinning like a madman up this forest road climb. I dug deep down for the energy and strength to keep up with him. Bombed the forest road descents just thinking about the 101. 'Great Success!'
W101
Saturday is the Wilderness 101. I should be able to get all rested up for it. Still running the idea of bottles -vs- camelbag through my head. Also trying to figure out if I want to stay with my 34x21 or drop to a 32x20. The 34x20 is similar to what I had last year (26er) and it felt great on the steep climbs later in the race. I'd rather be comfortable on those climbs. Commanding decision to come on Friday.
La Ruta
Conformation through email late last week: I am officially (page 2) a registered participant in this year's La Ruta. Now to figure out the airfare...
This week has been spent playing catch-up on sleep. It isn't helping that I'm working long days to take Friday off. Not to mention the fuel filter on the AVant decided it wanted to clog up so I had to replace that one evening. House is full of dog hair and needs a good vacuuming. Hallway and bedroom painting needs to commence. Grass is tall. The list keeps on going.
off-the-front
Went out on the weekly group ride last night (switched from Wed to Tues this week). Rocking a 34x21 and was content to work on my climbing. The ride started right up a decent road climb. There I was; out of the saddle pedaling away at a decent clip, not realizing that I'm pulling away from everyone. Onto a gravel access road and then a left onto a nice steep powerline climb. Again, I pulled away and everyone felt it was necessary to ride fast in order to keep up. Hmm. Wasn't my plan but my climbing off-the-front sort of provoked it.
From that point forward the remainder of the ride was somewhat fast and my knee was saying 'no no'. My body also felt like crap. Definitely didn't feel 'fresh'. Perhaps I need more sleep? Perhaps it was the heat and humidity? I began to get worried about the prospect of just carrying two bottles at the 101 this weekend. My Camelbag sounds inviting. Hmm...
A little over an hour into the ride I started recovering and feeling better. Knee pain also went away. This is a reoccuring theme I've noticed. My body doesn't seem to want to cooperate until 40-60+minutes into a ride. If I go out hard early I pay for it up through the first hour. If I take it easy for the first hour life is grand.
The later half of the ride saw trails we rode last week. One particular rocky and steep climb. I was stoked and, again, was out of the saddle off-the-front pedaling nice and easy. Got to the trail junction and was about to head right (to the steep stuff) but got out-voted to go left. So, what do I do? Push it hard with Glenn and 'Lap through the singletrack until we hit the forest service road. From there I was cursing Glenn for running his Mount Snow gear (32x22) and spinning like a madman up this forest road climb. I dug deep down for the energy and strength to keep up with him. Bombed the forest road descents just thinking about the 101. 'Great Success!'
W101
Saturday is the Wilderness 101. I should be able to get all rested up for it. Still running the idea of bottles -vs- camelbag through my head. Also trying to figure out if I want to stay with my 34x21 or drop to a 32x20. The 34x20 is similar to what I had last year (26er) and it felt great on the steep climbs later in the race. I'd rather be comfortable on those climbs. Commanding decision to come on Friday.
La Ruta
Conformation through email late last week: I am officially (page 2) a registered participant in this year's La Ruta. Now to figure out the airfare...
posted by dougyfresh at 11:43 AM
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