Battle Axe Warrior

Wow... things got busy real fast!!

Got a preride in on Sunday at Winding Trails.  The course is looking NICE!!  And it's a good thing I missed the first ride and attended this past weekend as a section was just completed and added on Wednesday.  A lot more singletrack than I expected.  And A LOT MORE climbs that I expected. It's a 5 mile loop and as a First Timer I'll just bang out one lap.  I'm good with that.

During the preride I felt ok... didn't warm up.  I have to start doing that!!!  It was a good pace for the ride (I was with a pack of 6 or so).  I defintely got a good sense of where I'll be able to pass (if I can pass that is) which is key.  Technically it's not a difficult trail.  Some roots, but those are hardly noticeable on the HiFi.  There are a bunch of logs down across the trail, most are small but there are two that are big ring catchers... so I want to practice getting over larger logs smoother this week.  The other BIG thing I need to practice is putting my damn bottle back while riding.  On my first lap I took a drink on a fire road straight away and I couldn't seem to find the cage to get it back in before a quick turn onto singletrack came up... so on the brakes I was pulling.  Hopefully I won't be dehydrated (like I was a bit on Sunday) for the race so drinking won't be such an issue for a 5 miler... but still, something I need to work on.  Typically I ride with a camelback when hitting singletrack... but for a race (and such a short one at that) I'd rather go with less weight.

So I completed the race course (plus some as I missed the last turn and headed down a fire road for a bit before turning back around) and took a break as I talked to one of the guys who built up the course.  He took off and I decided I should hit the course again.  Riding for the second time was certainly much smoother.  Being able to anticipate hills really helped.  On the first lap there was a killer steep toward the end that comes at you from around a corner that I had to hike.  Knowing it was coming the second time I kept my speed as much as I could and dropped the gears and was able to get up and over it.  That felt great!!  But we'll see how that goes with others on the course (didn't seem to be much room for two on that climb).  And riding alone on my own pace (which actually ended up being pretty decent) was nice for the confidence.  I didn't break any speed records, but I felt solid at the pace I rode around the second time - and with opportunities to turn it up on the fire roads (and not to mention even more comfort on the sinlgetrack and declines) I'm pretty content coming into the race.  Oh yeah - and that spot I couldn't get the bottle back in the cage on the first lap - deja vu on lap 2.  Seriously, I have to practice that!!

So last night I was feeling all light headed/dizzy and Annie wasn't feeling too hot either.  Woke up and neither of us made it to work today.  Great start...

Living in Boston you have to watch out for street cleaning days.  Typically I don't have to worry because it's always on Mondays on my street and it doesn't start until after I've gone to work.  Luckily I remembered that I had to pay attention and I moved my car to the side of the street Annie was on....  WRONG SIDE.  We were both towed.  So I got a bike ride in as I rode to the tow yard to get the pterodactyl.
Payed about $130 to get my vehicle (that does not include the ticket the city gives you for parking on the wrong side)  and reach into my pocket... where are my keys??  (I had a hoodie on as I left and realized it was a real nice day so I took it off - and apparently dropped my keys on the bed in doing so...)
So I hop on my bike and head back home to get the keys...

And now for the good news of the day!  As I get home there is a package for me... what the??  I didn't order anything?  I rip open the box and it is...

So to brighten the whole ordeal Annie suggests that I bring the cd with me so I can listen to it on the (short) ride home.  So I throw the cd in my pocket, grab my keys and head back out.  Back at the tow yard I throw the bike on the rack and drive home to get Annie and take her back to get her car.

I guess it was nice to get in a quick ride today (probably a little over 3 miles in total) but I seriously felt naked without my helmet (it was in the pterodactyl).  And, surprisingly, riding on the clipless with my sneakers wasn't all that bad!

Yeah I wear red shoes! GO DAWGS!!