steps in the right direction

Rode two burning laps at CB on Sunday with Christopher. This ride really sparked the MTB fire inside. The trail was beat down and in good shape. The pace was casual, and we stopped to talk to some other people on the trail from time to time. I havent done three laps this year. Sunday was the day that had me feeling the best out of all the trips down there this year. Tuesday night I tested the legs a little out at LV, and it hurt. It has taken me a few days to recover from the effort, but the fire is still there for Sunday. It is nice to look at the training log and see almost 3 full months of consistancy. The biggest thing I am looking forward to is getting back into the MTB scene. Warm weather, cold beers, and riding hard. See yall on Sunday.

Git er done

Sunday, with the wind wipping a solid crew of five rode out to CC lake. The wind was brutal, but the company made it great. The trip home was even better with the wind to our backs and the spirits high. It almost makes you for get about the two hours of wind you just rode in.

Also this week, I got some riding in at lost valley. First was Thursday night. I ran into Twister at the mound, and we rode some gravel roades together. He showed me a secret path that adds some variety to the area. Mj and I put in a solit 3 hours on Friday, and actually got to ride the single track. A little muddy to start out with, I definatly was surfing in some spots, but as the day moved on, the trail got drier.

Paris Nice has been a great race to follow this week. It is turning into a slug fest, with Schleck and Voiet moving up into the GC. Contador slipped back behind Chavenal, with one more day to go.

C- Bluff

Recently made it down to C-bluff for some Laps. I did the trail in the Clockwise direction to get ready for the Rim Wrecker race at the end of March. I think that this direction of the trail is much more difficult than the CCW direction. The trail was in pretty good shape, with some leaf cover and a stretch of shit bog that really took it out of the legs by the second lap. I was able to lay into it a little bit for about a quarter lap. It felt really great to be carring momentum, carving, and connecting moves. I was a little rusty on the bike handling skills, but it is starting to come back. I was pretty happy with the results so far, and it has fired me up to continue training. In my eyes the post ride Mexican is the way to go. It is a toss up on the quality of Dos Primos vs. Los Portales. I know that I am riding the fence on this one, but I am just a huge fan of Mexican food. Just put it in my mouth! So far this year, I have gotten about 70 miles of off road riding in. So far so good.

Yesterday was Cold. I suffered more on this ride than any other this year. We rode down to the covered bridge through ceder hill, and back up on Old Lemay to 4 ridge. The wind was coming hard out of the north, and the Temps were low 30's. The last 10 miles back I sucked wheel the whole time, and still managed to finish in high spirits. The riding is Jeff co is awesome. There are endless opportunities for mid and long rides, and the rodes are pretty good. There is alot more exploring to be done though.

Hopefully today will be less windy, and I can get some gravel riding in out at lost valley. I need to get some MTB miles in.

Frank Schleck’s Specialized Tarmac SL2 (sick)

Frank rode this for his stage win in the last stage of the tour of cali. Saxo had two stage wins. Fabian took the win in the TT opening stage. Specialized has come through in a big way this year. Their bike designs for MTB and road are so smooth looking.

Saturday morning was cold, with some snow. I still had high motivation, but my riding partner convinced me to do our training session indoors today. The weather was not the coldest that we have ridden in, by a long shot. We have had 5 or 6 rides of smiler temp, and wind, one of which was 18 degrees for a high. I set up a pretty good room. Our goal for the month was a 5 hour ride, and he had not gotten one in yet. I was ahead of the game as I worked in on the Segul death march ride last week. That ride was bad to the bone. It should be a regular ride on Sundays.

Anyways, we watched all of the hill stages of the 2004, then 2003 tours. That killed 4 hours, and kept my mind right. The last hour we watched the Tour of Cali. 5 hours on the trainer, is the longest I have ever ridden indoors. Before today, the longest ride I had done inside was 2 hours. This was also the 2nd longest ride of 2009 for me. Besides a sore ass, the only other thing that hurt was my face. After 5 hours of towling off my face, it was raw and chapped, kind of like my ass, but there was no chamois butter.

Observations:

- Jan looked twice as strong in the 2003 tour compared to 2004

-Pure Black, tall socks are the Tech

-Saxo Banc is looking strong for this season. Frank Schleck looked super on the stage win yesterday.

-Throwing your helmet off for a climb is pro

-A Gold Chain is PRO!!! I need a gold chain!!

For a change

It was nice to not need the full winter get up this weekend. Managed a 66 mile ride with Zach and Scott P. We made it up to the Alton lock and dam. This ride put me over 200 miles for the week. That is a major confidence booster for the base training program. Sunday out team went to bush wildlife, and shot several guns. I got to shoot a SKS and a 9mm. Pretty nice weekend if you ask me.