Today – 34
MTD – 69
YTD – 3550
I set out for lunch today not feeling so hot. I rode hard yesterday for lunch coming in at an 18.5 average then commuted home and back this morning. I had the right clothes on but I was cold. And route-weary…I tried to piece something together before I left to no avail. I thought I’d run the “Marty route” and be done with it. It’s 21 miles, rather flat with some good speed areas and rollers. 4 miles into my mopey riding I thought…buck up! I was just today counting up my miles for the year to figure I had pulled past 3500 with two months to go. There is only one way to build the miles…ride ‘em.
With that I decided to change course at St Joe Road and go left instead of right. I knew there was a hill there and I was right. It led to Dug Knob which carries a 9% average over 0.65 miles and includes an 18% switchback zone. I find it always hardest to climb a hill the first time because you just don’t know what’s coming. This one kept giving and giving. I chased it with a beautiful run across Skyline leading to a drop down Moser Knob and back to work.
A great posting popped in on the Rapha blog today titled “Killing Me Softly” about a Continental ride in Nashville.
I really like this paragraph:
Assuming your bike fits, position is less about the ergonomic fit, but the rider’s fit or engagement in the world around them. The way pedaling and effort lead consciously, or unconsciously, to meditation. Without the noise of lists, missed calls, an ever growing inbox and responsibility—under self imposed but manageable duress, up the side of a mountain, legs firing, breath labored but in control, eyes focused ahead and around all at once, sense and perception heightened—things begin to sharpen. Life in these moments are simple, pure and clear; where you fit for that moment or those few hours becomes lucid.
It says so many things I think while riding alone through back country roads.
I’ve been thinking about bike racing a lot these last few days. I am going to give it a go in the spring and have very nerdily acquired this classic tome:
“Bicycle Road Racing – Complete Program for Training and Competition” by Edward Borysewicz
Here is a picture taken last week post ride when the conditions were Belgian at best, wet and full of road-grime:
Ride safe, ride lots…
