lets get this done

or something, Got a good ride in on Sunday.

But I was slow. Felt great to be out there on the bike but i was mentally slow - not reaction time wise just pedaling slowly, esp when i got gapped off Burke and Syl's wheels... the gap would open and I'd just unwind a little.

An odd feeling of a complete and total lack of urgency. I could make it work, I could pedal when I needed to and was able to stay on the wheels but something would happen fat tires with tiny knobs wash out in a loose pile of leaves or maybe getting the line wrong over the rocks, the gap would open and the pressure to pedal hard and get the HR up vanished.

Tired, yes, up latish, and fatigued from the short week, mentally and physically, up early...  was so crazy tired by the end of the night I was ready for bed at 7:30, like falling asleep tired. Read for a bit more, then slept really well. Got up, got the minivan to the shop for the wheel bearing, rode in. Went to make coffee...  forgot to bring beans in with me. So there's no coffee here. Sigh. Drinking crap from upstairs as a stop gap measure because I don't have time to run out.

Not the best way to start a busy day. Taking a moment right now to sit for a second.

The lack of urgency was weird. But it also drove home the fact that I need to put a plan together. last year I had a plan for Michigan's Coast to Coast and it worked. I doubted it but it worked. Now I have to put something together for the 24 hours of Great Glen.

Right now I'm thinking about the EFTA MTB marathon series (promoter meeting is next weekend - full schedule should be out after that at some point) - although most of the races already have the Bikereg page up. AND looks like Wallum lake might be the first up - and there's a nice singlespeed marathon...  and no clydesdale marathon. Downside is the amount of 'travel' for the series. These races aren't all very close. maine? damn I guess so...  also maybe that's a good thing, forced get away. But then it complicates everything and the whole working thing. Work the second job. going to be a fun challenge to balance it all, i will work hardest not to make it a stressful challenge. That's really the only challenge, i've got this history of making it work, but somehow my mind keeps me from remembering i'm pretty good at it at this point and a better track record than I let my self feel like I have. In other words i'm good at being me.

One thing though was thinking about how to get some intensity in...  one idea was maybe add in a once a week commute on the MTB and do a hill series on the way in...  hit the roads there on the east side...  the downhills are a good way to burn through brake pads but also a good way to add structure and intensity. I'm not excited by the idea of putting the trainer together but that is actually slightly more appealing than getting out for a specific workout on the road/cx bike on the roads in the winter. I'm still not familiar enough with enough of the trails to go full gas, Sundays are a good day to get in 2-3 hours of consistent pedaling (even if it was just slow riding for Syl and then waiting for me - i didn't pause much - very much kept rolling for most of the time). I think doing the all day rides also will be a good thing to get back to doing. Since 24HOGG isn't until august, maybe I'll still just plan on getting 6 in so skipping the January hundo would be good (not sure I can fit a whole day off this month right now).

I am still mad at myself for not having brought coffee with me. But digging through the Wallum Lake stuff is a good distraction https://app.racereach.com/event/wallum-lake-mtb

Oh - On the ride on Sunday? I knocked a pretty damn big tree down. It almost landed on me and the bike. Burke wishes he had the camera rolling, if the tree was another 5-8' taller it would have landed on Syl, he was headed around the trail in the direction the tree fell. It was a 12-16" DBH (diameter at breast height - forestry term if you haven't heard it before). Totally rotten and waterlogged, heavy. A pine i think, hard to tell with the bark totally gone.

A bit before that we were over on Allen's stuff and I didn't make it quite up one of the walls. I fucked it up, needed one more extra pedal, a tiny bit more momentum (and to have dropped the post) and stalled at the top and my chest tapped the garmin and broke the tabs off it. So that was fun. I mean it was a great day to be in the woods. The wind was BRUTAL and it was cold. really cold. But in the woods of Big River we could hear the wind, but never felt it. The parking lot was cold, definitely. Got chilled just loading up the car.

One thing through my head riding was 'this bike is really fucking heavy' but then so am I, but i dipped under 215 this morning so maybe there's hope of dropping the next 10 pounds...  finally...  but the bike, really the only weight area to fix is the wheels. Carbon frame would be a bit too expensive but then maybe not, def not as big of an improvement as going with new wheels. But I'd like to stick with the 50mm wide rims and there aren't many carbon wheels in that size. What else to lighten up? Bars and stem...  and...  yeah that's it. Maybe seatpost but not really. Going to the singlespeed will drop a little weight - gotta order a rear cog or three, but won't save much. I was thinking though - one year, no wheel/bike upgrades for at least a year. But then maybe it will be like last year's goal, upgrade just before the big event. Make due until then. or i dunno. fits and starts - this is going to be a typical post - written 1/2 a paragraph at a time between interuptions. Nature of support eh? Being here is most of the battle - having the answers is the easy part, and sometimes the questions are fun and challenging.

Gonna go get more shitty coffee - and eat lunch... and keep thinking about MTBing...  and maybe try to figure out where I'm going to go on the first Hundo of 2020... 

heddwch
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