Thus far today the snow and rain have held off, so I hope to begin some interval work on the bike this afternoon. Between hiking, running, and cycling in the last eight months I’ve built an excellent base, demonstrated by my rapid recovery the last three weekends. I’ve consistently gone from thrashed to solid in 48 hours

Now I need to build some resiliancy in my snap. During SSAZ, and to a lesser extent during the Red Hot, the push to get over hard rises and small obstacles dropped off, even as my steady state ability to keep the pedals turning was largely undepleated. Fast-twitch in general has always been an extreme weakness on my part. So, lets try to work on that.

Plans and focus turn towards the Rim Ride, which will I think turn out to be a good epic. Hairball warns us well about the final stretch, the ascent up to the Rim and the subsequent traverse will be brutal, especially after hours on the bike. I have no intention of riding it in the dark, if I don’t have a good 2.5-3 hours of daylight, I intend to bail down the Gemini road. I’ll have a good chance of making that cutoff, however, provided I set a good pace and don’t kill myself and my hands in the first half. Water is still very much a question in my mind; I may just be hauling a good two gallons from the start.

So the months schedule is the following:

3-4: M’s parents in town
9-11: likely trip to Moab to preride key sections
17-8: Arizona Spring Fling rides: Sedona on Saturday to get my ass kicked on the tech, I’ll be leading a circumnavigation of Granite Mtn on Sunday
22-26: days off for the Rim Ride and some canyoneering (provided I’m not too destroyed)

I have a hard life.

Stolen photo of Moab Randy at Old Pueblo. Those are some stick legs he’s pushing to a podium spot in solo SS!

Note the use of Oury grips on the drops, a very clever idea in my o so humble opinion. Also the intriguing shape of the new WTB drop bars, I’ve written before about how I don’t like the ergo bend, but this photo of Randy makes me rethink that statment. I like the much longer look of the hooks, and they’ll likely be on my list to try in the future. I have no substantive complaints about the midges, and am 200% sold on the concept of off road drops. The Snurly fixie will keep the red risers for a while, but may sprout some drops later this year.