Two weeks to go

Another weekend in the bag, back training on the crossbike. Threw the monster cassette on there now too. (had a 12-27 now a 11-34 for the ride in two weeks). The monster has some big gaps but also has a nice sweetspot gear 50T up front 20-something in the rear. Good for 19 +/- at a fast but comfy seemingly all day cadence.

Legs were crap this weekend. I think the bad sleep is catching up. My little boy needs to sleep through the night and the geriatric beagle needs to sleep in. Two rides at a little more than an hour each. Good power in the legs, handling skill on the sketch are good, I just felt terrible. HR was good too. Maybe it is all mental.

Two more rides next weekend to just maintain my fitness and maybe force a mini-peak. Might need to dust of the trainer for a Thursday night spin the week of the ride to air out the legs. Always feel better after the legs have been "stretched" a little.

Weekend

The training weekend wasn't as fruitful as envisioned but it wasn't too bad either. Got in a little over three hours, a long ride and a short ride. Legs felt bleh on Saturday but came around on Sunday. My Sunday rides are usually better than my Saturday rides, I think I have to clean out the carbon and cobwebs first.

My participation in the Devil's BB Mtn X is semi up in the air. It is at about 50/50 right now. I really hope to do it, luckily online registration is available until the day before the event.

I plan on just plugging away this weekend as if I'm doing it. No need to slack off.

Here again already?

In a little less than 4 weeks the Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross is coming, August 28 to be exact. This time last year I was out of shape, about 10 lbs over my usual "racing" weight and fearing the ride, for the most part the fear was correct, see last year's post about that. This year, I'm in little better shape, weigh about 4 lbs less and fear the climbs just as much as I did last year.

Let's push all that negative stuff to the side for a moment and think about the positives: I know the course, I can look forward to the awesome parts (all the parts going downhill....) and psych myself up for the all the hateful parts (going uphill). I do have more power in the legs this time around so I'm hoping that helps.

I had hoped to have some longer rides under my belt but that isn't happened with the home schedule. I've been training with two 1:30 slots a week, usually Sat and Sun. I've seen improvements, haven't missed more than a weekend riding and feel pretty good on the bike. I rode 40+ miles on Father's Day and felt the best from mile 30 on so that is a good sign.

I'm going with the same bike and gearing from last year, I did add a Cane Creek Thudbuster-ST suspension seatpost, I won it in a contest and it seems pretty cool for a minor weight penalty. I'm hoping we get some rain so the 30+ miles of gravel rodes firm up and to keep the dust down.

I do have a goal this time around. Last year it was to finish. This year it is twofold, to finish and to break 4:30. Which is 25 minutes faster than last year. Can I do it? It all depends on how my climbing is.

I've added a new supplement to my arsenal, Hammer's Endurance Amino. It seems to help, unless it is just a placebo effect. I'll let you on the 29th.....

I'll hopefully post a few more times before the event to update the ole training progress.

Until then, pedal, pedal, smile, jump a curb and pedal some more!