ride forever or ride fast

Right now I can do one but not the other.

Found that out at smackdown tonight. That or well, I suppose if I hadn't been dropped and had been riding with others maybe i wouldn't have been as slow riding alone. It wasn't terrible, but it still wasn't fun getting shelled there on Prospect just at the end. The Bikeworks gang attacks each stop light like a race, slow... clear... SPRINT.

Wave good bye.

It's okay, I was out there. I made an attempt and well my coach is much better preparing me for being able to ride long distances. Probably because it is better suited to me. Slow. Easy to go slow. Easy to be slow for a long time. Well I suppose not for everyone, but for me at least.

Time to work on transitioning into something a bit faster than the version of me that made an attempt to race CX last fall. I'd like to be faster than that.

Should be possible. Gonna need a plan more complicated than the one that got me through the Michigan Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder intact.

Thought a little about that tonight on the ride. Also was thinking maybe I should actually bring a road bike with a gear that i'm not spinning out at 25mph. Maybe it is time to pull the Klein off the hooks. Also thinking about the paramount and the TT starting next week. Do I ride that old alloy fork that is a bit flexy and old? Or do I skip it until I get a new fork or get the old fork fixed? Maybe it is a cannibal year for the TT. Klein it up.

Thinking - all the thinking. Don't have time to put much into action. Still buried from being gone, both at the shop and at work.

The RI Red Rooster Ronde went off well. Big enough crowd to call it a successful event, small enough to to overwhelm the Johnny's Place grand opening/open house.  Weather was perfect for it too. I did die about 10 miles from the finish, probably should have eaten more food on Friday, and Saturday morning and probably should have eaten something during the ride. I was, how you say maybe, empty. not bonked, just tired. still not recovered? No I think just under fueled and exhausted. Like really really fucking tired. REALLY tired saturday. Rallied a bit for Sunday and built bikes. Way more to do there. Steady progress though.

Got bad news on Saturday. My mother fell while hiking with my step dad in the high cascades, 40-50 min drive outside of Winthrop, WA. She broke her ankle (pilon fracture) and her shoulder. Took 2 hours to get her out of the mountains once they got to her. She was hypothermic and in shock and got a helicopter ride to Wenatchee. Has been there since. Surgery on the ankle Saturday, again today. Immobile for a very long time, which will be challenging for an infinite number of reasons. So yeah that's adding a layer to everything. Working through the work, doing my best and accepting that it is what I can do and being okay with that. The frustrating is dissipating, but the work isn't. So getting back to normal. Still def NOT looking forward to taking more than a day off here or there. But I have a feeling that I'll be flying back to Seattle for another week sooner than later, given the state of my parents.

Well time to think about maybe sleeping, might be partly caught up because I can't sleep in much but I have been able to fall asleep. So, that's not terrible. Time to figure out some intervals. Always easier when you have some good positive extrinsic motivation, but hey, still can work on actually crafting a plan. Unfortunately I need to start some running if I'm gonna single speed this shit in CX season. Running, intervals, maybe something will happen. Maybe this is the year I do what we did back with MLFN and we ride to the TT early, do a full gas one and then the second full gas one as the official TT. two 20ish minute intervals. Probably not a terrible place to begin. Maybe an every other week trip up Tower Hill, maybe some of those 20/20s or something. I'll think about it while riding..back and forth to work.

Now I might read a bit before getting some sleep.

Still hungry, but maybe I need to stay hungry...  could stand to lose a few more pounds, but... hmmm... 

oh well

heddwch
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