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...

Media Fridays

We'll posts videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

In honor of my upcoming race, and the motherland, I present to you this video.  Thought we forgot about media Fridays eh??  Well I almost did, but then didn't, so how do you like me now?

Perhaps I'll don my Ireland jersey for the race?

We are cleared for launch

Went for an after work ride around the seaport with Annie.  Leg looking feeling good, so I'm happy with that.  I won't continue the photo log of the injury because honestly, it looks gross.  The bruise on my thigh is an interesting mixture of purple and yellow and behind my knee is a rasberry/purple blend.

Another adventure I had was taking attempting to take off the old cleats from my bike shoes.  One bolt would not come out and of course I hadn't dug ALL the dirt out so I ended up stripping it.  GREAT!!  So I dropped it off a the LBS close to work and they drilled it out for me.  It had to happen.  On my last ride at Wompatuck my left cleat did come out at inopportune times during the ride... and although didn't cause a crash, caused some close calls.  The ride today was easy, and with new cleats on new pedals (I got myself a pair of XT pedals as Annie will sooner than later be converting to clipless so I figured I'd give her the new pedals I had put on the HiFi originally) things were a bit "tight" unclipping.  That's one of the things I love about the pedals I've been using - they adjust to your personal comfort level in terms of clip-ease.

So the leg is feeling good, the cleats are all set and the pedals will be tuned in for that perfect clipness... all things leading to the best news.  Preride this Sunday at 10am.  All the arrows are up on the course, which apparently has been modified from last year to include more singletrack with some short steep climbs thrown in there.  The fact that it has changed from last year makes no difference to me as I'll be riding it for the first time, but I'm excited/anxious to get out there and see what I'll be facing in a week!!!  Oh boy...  the nerves haven't started but I know they will soon.  I'm certainly not near the weight I'd like to be for race season, my legs are OK, and my lungs are no where near good.  But it's only a 5 miler, so I should be able to push through it and get my ass in gear for the next one.

I'm ready for the eye-opener... hello race world (First Timer class anyway), here I come.

Walk with a gangsta lean

Normally I love the fact that I work on a campus setting.  I get to escape the little closet of an office I have and walk around.  Go check in on kids as they ride horses, in gym class, pull them from math... whatever.  Just to get up and out of a chair.
Normally....

Since the HiFi's first scaring I have not enjoyed walking around so much.  The HiFi wasn't the only one to suffer injury.  And no, I'm not talking about beardface who broke his collarbone.  I'm talking about my damn leg.  My initial assessment was the damn IPhone caused the most damage (while my leg destroyed the steroid injected protective cover) which is the main issue with residual annoyance.  But the HiFi, pissed that I let it hit rock, did exact revenge on my leg.

Check out the photo evidence of my injury.

I hurt myself today.

Ok it wasn't today, but I did hurt myself.

On Saturday, Michael and I went on a couple's bike ride for his birthday. We went back to the first place we ever went to together because it has a lot of paved trails for a beginner. I felt like I did a fairly good job, aside from a 60 second crying spell after making it up a steep incline. I made it up the hill while never getting off my bike, but yet I still felt pathetic.

Pointless acute sobbing aside, it was a wonderful day. The weather was a strong and sunny 50 degrees. We rode for the same amount of time as the last trip there, while squeezing in an additional three miles. We even got the chance to take a few pictures. Overall, a great trip.

"Trip" being the operative word.

It had to happen sometime

What a great weekend!!
Weather wise things bounced back from the cruel joke that was played on us on April Fool's.  The sun came out and temps jumped up.  It also happened to be my birthday on Saturday.  And UCONN beat Kentucky to advance to the National Championship.

Saturday Annie and I went for a ride at Wompatuck.  It was a great ride.  We got some nice miles in and took some pictures.  I'll leave the details of this ride to Annie.

When we returned from our ride I discovered that a preride for Winding Trails had been scheduled for Sunday morning.  Oh decisions...  UCONN was playing, Annie made ribs and green beans for my birthday dinner, and there were beers to be enjoyed.  Google maps listed the course at just above 2 hours away... I know that to be on the high side, but a 10am ride time would mean an early morning for me.  This is my first race and I want to be as prepared as I can be so I seriously considered attending.  I jumped on the forum and attempted to post a question as to whether or not another preride would be scheduled in the future.  Apparently my posts have to be approved, and apparently no one approves anything on a Saturday evening, soooo I went to bed not knowing if there would be another opportunity.  My posts never ended up showing up so I messaged the ride organizer to no avail.  In the end Annie convinced me to not go and bank on there being another opportunity.

I guess I shouldn't complain about being cold...

Media Fridays

We'll posts videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

So I actually went out this week on Thursday, and I bitched and moaned when I got back because my ears and fingers were freezing.  I was biking in Boston near the harbor so it was cold...but after seeing this video of people from my home state; I think I should toughen up. 

You gotta love West Virginia. :)


Actually posted by Annie