1st WC ride in over a yr

Turns out it was a Scotty Schlagel Perry Co death ride. 60 miles, 4x over Sterret's gap, 17+ avg. Sheet. On several positive notes;
1) we didn't get wet
2) I wasn't last back
3) I didn't climb too badly (for me).
I haven't started my hill repeats yet, so I SHOULD get stronger. In theory at least. It is good to go out on those rides as it gets you up to near race pace so it's not such a shock 1st time out. But it IS 7am on a sat am. If I do it 1x month or so, it'll help. Perry Co is really beautiful to ride in. As long as you avoid Leroy and his 1/2 ton pickem up truck.

1st real ride on my geared bike

With the new Sram Force drivetrain. I went out yesterday to do hill repeats but that was quickly smashed as my derailer wouldn't shift past the 15t cog. 6.2 miles, cursing, wishing I had my D/A back on. I pissed around with the adjustments (after Gregg had set it up after I effed it up) and still couldn't get it in the last 2 cogs. So last night I messed around with it when I got home from work and I had an epiphany. The cable was too tight. D'oh. Worked great after about 10 minutes of adjusting it. So out I went today. Still problems. Then another epiphany. I wasn't pushing the paddles in far enough to upshift. Well. They work great and the bike feels lighter. But that's probably due to riding the fixie all last week. I'll weigh it just for shits and grins, tho. Guess I'll move my hill repeat intervals to next week so I get used to the shifters now that it's wednesday. I'm feeling like I could do that crit in Middletown on the 26th. If my kit ever comes. Can you race for a team and not wear it's kit?

I could ride forever.....

Today I decided to do the bike courier thing and run some errands on the fixie. The route was as flat as it gets around here and I'm taking it easy this week training so it was an easy choice. Stopped by my lbs and dropped off a bunch o stuff for the swap meet, then headed to the twp rec office to purchase pool passes, then back home and stop along the way at Sugar Moma's to get some good Guatemalan beans. As I was cruising along, almost effortlessly, I realized that on the fixie, once you get going and it's afairly flat route, you can ride almost forever.

Sheesh

It's been a while. Legs are feeling great. I killed them the previous 2 weeks doing 2x20's with a fixed gear ride inbetween.I THINK the mini-blocks are working. We'll see. Got to do lots of yard work recently. Putting compost in the garden. Mulch. Cutting the grass. Theraputic, atmo. Easy week this week so it's been good. Putting the Force gruppo on the KG. Get the finishing touches tomorrow at World Cup. Taking a bunch o stuff there for the swap meet. If it doesn't sell, there's always e-bay.
Sarah has been playing really good as of late in soccer. ALMOST had a goal y-day against Chambersburg. Chipped it up and almost over the goalie's arms. Just got a piece of it. Can't say I've seen any girls her age try that, much less pull it off. 'Twas a thing of beauty, fo sho. I sure hope she gets on Div 1 this yr-she deserves it and I can't stand the parents of the d2 team. Won't have to deal with those red-necks no matter what happens, fortunately.

So I wussed out

Getting up at 5:50 am on a sat to do anything but race is just wrong. So I didn't get to World Cup for the ride. No matter. Got 25 in at a pretty good pace in 70 weather! Yay! Plus, this way, I got to have breakfast with my girls, which is some of my favorite times. I don't know if it was the weather or be losing about 8 lbs from last yr, or maybe I'm more fit overall, but I winded up with a 16.8mph avg over a fairly rolling route and I wasn't going that hard. I know avg speed is a poor indicator, but STILL, I don't do that often during peak season. Guess I'll just stick to my training program and see what happens. Oh. And I need to shave my legs. Furry legs are no good for applying sunscreen.

Lots o stuff

A hard week. 1st week of intervals this yr. It's getting warmer and warmer with each day. I felt pretty good doing the 2x20s. Didn't die, that is. Did something today that I haven't done in almost 2 yrs. Rode the Gitane fixie to work. How the f*ck do I manage to get ready at the same time as I drive and get to work and ready 5-10 minutes faster than I do if I drive???? Don't know, but I'm doing more of it and f&ck Judy Darr if she mentions anything about someone being "offended" by my cycling shit. Jeebus. I think I'll go out with the World Cup crew and ride early sat morning. Something else that I didn't do all of last yr.......

Easy is hard

After finally feeling better and getting in 2 (yes, "2") rides in last week, it's my "rest week" so even tho I couldn't train like I wanted last week, I'm sticking with the plan. However, it was fairly nice today (not horrible y-day, either) and even tho I got a late start, I went out. The weather, my LeClaire Vie replica jersey, my legs feeling good, I SO wanted to ride hard. But I didn't. That was hard.