Tell him what you want

Last week after another discussion with a friend who just switched over to a compact crank I started to think once again.  The ADK is coming up in a couple of months and I may need all of the help I can get while up there.  The race will have ~31,000 feet of climbing if/when I make it to the finish.  On the way home, I stopped by my parents house to pick up a 50 tooth chainring I had purchased a few years back and never installed.  It just sat there new and unused.

I got the new smaller ring mounted up and decided to take it for a spin.  I could feel a difference almost immediately but I didn't know if it was a good difference or not.  With the smaller ring, I will have to increase my cadence in order to achieve the same speeds which my hips have not liked in the past.

Fast forward to that evening when I got a laugh while reading the local mountain bike forum.  There was a guy who announced he was looking to purchase a used bike.  Another user offered up one that was one size smaller than what the original poster was looking for and was denied due to it not being big enough.  Possibly offended by the denial he replied, "My wife has always told me that one inch does not make a difference."

The following day, I took Le Antique out for another ride when that comment came back into mind.  Now I understand his wife was just trying to protect his ego but I can tell you that anything that is round and an inch bigger will always generate a more pleasurable experience.  Case in point the smaller ring.  After a week of riding around on the smaller ring, I am beginning to lean more and more towards the fact that the smaller experience isn't all that others have made it out to be.  I'll give it a couple more days to see if I can get used to it but more than likely I will be going back to the larger ring.  Why?  Because bigger is better...

Friday was a day I had been awaiting for the last couple of weeks.  A few friends had invited me to tag along with them on a loop around Lake Chesdin on a couple of occasions but I had prior engagements (Sounds important doesn't it?) which kept me from taking part.  A couple weeks back, I had mapped out the ride with hopes of riding it but again, life got in the way and I hadn't ridden it.



They had always boasted about the low amount of traffic and beautiful scenery. They also warned me that I would need to carry enough food and fluid to get me about 50 miles because once you were down there, there was nothing.  Nothing was right and I was OK with it.  I was enjoying what seemed like a 100 mile stretch of wooded road sides when out of the blue the woods stopped and goats appeared.  The goats must have been just as surprised to see me as I was them because they all just picked their heads up and stared at me.

They lost interest in me before I did them because by the time I got the bike stopped to take a photo, all but one of them had put their heads back down to continue their afternoon meal.  As I was digging the phone out of the pocket I heard grunting, snorting, hoof stomping followed by more grunting, snorting and hoof stomping.  Fearing I was about to get charged I snapped the picture and started on my way again.

Shortly down the road I found myself on the south side of the lake where there was supposed to be a general store.  The store was there structurally but it has been quite a few years since it was operational.  With the temperatures starting to heat up, I decided to start rationing my fluids because I couldn't remember how far along the next store was according to the map.  I came across a small marina which had a very small country store attached to it where I could fill up my bottles a few miles down the road.

The nice old lady who was working the store asked me "You trying to kill yourself out there in the heat today, aren't you?" I replied with "Believe it or not it isn't that bad on the bike."  Because I had started when the temps were a bit lower and was out there while it heated up I hadn't really noticed how hot it was actually getting.  A few more miles down the road my wrist found out just how hot the road temps were becoming.

The forest shaded roads were now behind me and the sun was full force.  I was really starting to sweat a bunch and my wrist was starting to feel like something was irritating it.  A quick look down and I noticed my RoadID (everyone should ride/run with one) was burning my wrist.  The way my hands were resting on the hoods had the clamp pointing straight into the sun.  A quick unclip of the clamp so the band would rest on my glove and feeling eased a bit except when the sweat would roll over it.

I was really happy to have have gotten out there to do the route.  I really enjoyed it and will be looking to head that way once again in the very near future.  Now I know where the stores are which will help my nutrition planning.  With ADK just a few months away, I need some longer efforts to not complete shock my system when I ask it go 2 days without sleep.

With less than one day before the RAAM solo's officially start their trek across the country, I have spent the last couple of evenings before falling asleep reading up on this year's starters.  With the largest solo field to date, this year's rendition is sure to be a good one.  Now you can spend a minute and a half filling yourself with excitement that will last you for days.

This week looks to be a nice one for me. Cooler temps, a regular work schedule and a strong motivation to be out on the bike should help this week prove to be a fun one.  If all things go to plan I am going to hit some never before ridden by me roads in Southern Chesterfield on Friday.  I drew up the cue sheet a few weeks back but never got around to venturing out.  This week it WILL happen, I think...

All Natural

Since returning from Asheville on Monday, this week has been relatively routine.  With TNT training over with for the summer, I am now searching for ways to get in my miles during the week when I would have normally been getting them in with the Team.

Being able to commute home has been a real blessing.  Once I leave the store, I am left with the decision of which route I want to take.  Ultimately there are an endless amounts of ways I could head but I usually stick to one of the main three.  The shortest is 21 miles and the longer of the three is 31 miles.  The route chosen for the day is usually determined by my energy levels and the amount of time I have before I need/want to be home.

Yesterday my legs were feeling quite OK when I left the shop.  The temps were already screaming into the triple digits but I wasn't concerned as I had packed an extra bottle for the trip home.  I decided I was going to take the longer route home and head up the Old Gun climb.  That was until, I started to hear a hissing sound coming from underneath me.

I found a low hanging tree to pull over next to which would provide a few minutes of shade and also a low hanging branch to make into a roadside workstand. A couple minutes in the shade to cool off with the sweat pouring down my face and I was back on the road kinda.  For whatever reason, I didn't have a full CO2 cartridge with me and the one I had only filled the tire up to a little more than halfway so I had to ride very gingerly in hopes of obtaining another flat.  And if I did get another I would at least be closer to whom ever I called to come get me.

A Green Workstand

By closer, I mean on the same side of the river because once I crossed the bridge I had the brilliant idea to climb Old Gun anyway.  My thinking was, if I am going to have to wait for someone to come get me, it would be nice to do it in the shade not the wide open where all I would be doing was baking my potatoes.  The climb went as to be expected and I pointed the bike for home.  A few cuts through neighborhoods I don't normally take got me home in a slightly shorter amount of time and all was well except now I had to correctly fix my tire and start chugging recovery drinks.  More commuting on tap as the ADK 540 is now just 2.5 months away.  Just gotta keep em spinnin!

Trip down to Asheville

 "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack" Jenn and I went to a Flying Squirrels game on Friday night.  A ballgame isn't a ballgame without Cracker Jack.

 Which one is more awesome?  No 1 or No 2? If we base our decision on the level of vulgar lyrics, No 2 wins hands down.  Excuse me a minute while I update a couple Ipod playlists.

 With Jenn driving, I took a nap before eating my chicken nuggets.  Once I woke up I put them into the Highlander's built in microwave.

Finally made it down to Asheville.  This is the view from our hotel room.

 

Friday = 1 more day

So today is Friday.  Seems the week has disappeared without really knowing it was here.  The holiday followed by a couple of days off from work made it go by quickly.  This is a good thing because tomorrow Jenn and I are leaving town after a short stint at work to join the rest of the TnT crew in Asheville.

After a short 7 months of training event weekend is here.  The Team has worked hard riding in the extreme cold and now the heat to prepare for what for many of them is going to be their first century.  I couldn't be more excited to have been able to help them along their way.  The smiles on the faces of those who are riding now what they once walked up in heap of frustration are priceless.  It won't take much convincing of me to realize they are ready.  The work has been done, now it's time to have some fun!

Part of that fun is packing.  OK there is nothing fun about packing.  Especially when you have to break it down into a couple of nights/days.  Do I need this?  Should I take that?  At some point this evening the phrase "Hey Hun, Have you seen the ____? No? Where the F is it?!" will surely be uttered.  Tonight is probably the worst part of the trip for me.  Packing will always put me into the Can we leave already?, mood.

So today, I have one more ride home from work before I spend some time wrenching on the bikes before I start packing everything up.  The morning will bring one last ride into work before Jenn arrives to start the journey.