Working Road Bikes

-
All of my road bikes are ready to ride. Took a bit, but everything is ready - road bike with two wheels, tri bike set for the trainer and cross bike ready for the crappy weather. After stealing the rear wheel from the road bike so I could race at Silverman, I needed to swap everything back. Original cassette back on the working road wheel so I could take that bike outside on good days. Took all the race components off the tri bike (chain, cassette and chain rings) and put the older drive train back on. Just need to clean the race drive train and pack it away for my next road tri (which might be a while). Then got the trainer tire on the faulty rear wheel so that bike is ready to take to CTS and do my indoor workouts. I figure that it doesn't matter if I can't coast right now - there's no coasting on trainers anyway! Last skinny tire bike needed pedals and a new saddle. I was hoping to sell the cross bike, but had no takers. So I'll use that bike for riding when the roads are gravely and not road bike friendly mid winter.

About the only bike related thing left to do (other then ride) is to single speed the Tomac. Yes, I am going to the dark side - trying to ride single speed over the winter. Nick has been racing and riding SS all year and he has noticed a signifigant increase in power. We are also hoping that I will be able to develop some better finess with the technical riding. Bulldozer is not the most equipment friendly methong of riding! I have noticed that SS riders do a much better job of energy conservation on the descents - not so much on the brakes and the excelerating. Work on some skills and get faster - that's the plan.

Comments

  1. fuzzNovember 18, 2010 at 10:41 AM

    Welcome to the dark side! Once you go SS you never go back. I see a Lenz Milkmoney in your future.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A long way on foot - Sheep Mountain Endurance Run

-
Image
Fifty miles is a long way - regardless of how you travel. As I was training and preparing for Sheep Mountain Endurance Run, I knew that it would be a long day - I knew that there would be ups and downs, that the plan would have to be fluid and goals adjusted mid-race. That is the nature of endurance sports and the people who achieve are the ones who can go with the flow and find the ability to turn things around if they do go south. Obviously, for my first 50, I was hoping for nothing but smooth sailing - with no dark spots, no demons and smiling the whole way. A girl can always hope, right? Runners assembled for the start Photo - Human Potential Running The sun was just starting to brighten the clouds as we walked to the starting line with nearly 100 other runners. The race director went through a few things, noting that there had already been some DNS's due to the elevation and to be smart. Smart... Most people would say smart would mean not doing something like a 50 mile ...
the full story...

Mortality

-
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well preserved body; but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a ride!'” - Hunter S. Thompson It seems such a trite quote, but true at the same time. Life is about the journey - the adventures along the way, the failures and successes. A life well lived is a person with stories to tell, taking the chances along the way that will provide fulfillment. You don't realize how close we are teatering to the edge until something happens that affirms our mortality.  In eleven years of practicing physical therapy in a nursing home setting, I've had my share of experiences with death. Never close though - far enough removed to be touched by the passing but not affected. Sometimes it's expected and everyone says "it's for the best. They are happier now." Other times, it's not and we are all shocked...
the full story...

Regaining my mojo

-
Image
I'll be honest. The two months between the middle of July and middle of September just about crushed me. Tired all the time, unable to muster more then a slug pace for most rides, and shuffling my way through my runs. It was the worst two month I've had - made worse by my continuing to try to push through the fatigue. So after Vapor I made sure that I would listen to my body and not pressure myself into training until I felt ready. No matter how long it would take, I would take the recovery I needed. Two weeks of minimal activity - short swims that were mostly just paddling around, very short runs where I didn't look at my watch at all and the easiest of rides imaginable. After those two weeks, I was still tired, but feeling better. Getting more like myself again, with a little more energy. That meant I needed at least another week of easy recovery! It was not the time to succumb to FOMO and start up with the big rides and hard runs again. So I behaved even more, knowing ev...
the full story...

Friends with the Monsters..

-
And the voices inside of my head.  As Saturday approaches, the voices - the demons - have begun talking to me. Sometimes a whisper, sometimes a scream. 54 miles. It's the distance from Colorado Springs to Lake Pueblo State Park. Or the top of Wilkerson Pass... A long bloody way to cover on two wheels, let along two feet! Yet that is my goal. Traverse the trails and roads west and east of Fairplay, covering more then the distance of two marathons. Theoretically, it should be nothing. After all, I've run back to back marathons many times - once getting both under 3:10. Fifty two miles, in just shy of 24 hours at a pace much faster then I'm planning. But in this ventures, I had time to recover between races and took the recovery seriously. Here, nothing but continuous forward movement. One step in front of the other, no breaks between efforts and the the clock doesn't stop ticking.  As Saturday approaches, those voices are getting louder. Ever doubting, ever questioning - ...
the full story...