Not frozen anymore

I have hit the rollers twice in one week which was enough to make me look forward to the plans I had made at the beginning of the week with the Masta of Spin, to hit up the fire roads at PSP on Friday. That was until the MAN handed out a Mandatory Training Memo which was to take place on Friday, forcing me to go by myself.

Swift Creek still partially frozen near the boat ramp

Once I started my ride I was hoping the half inch of snow we received over night would help keep the ground frozen. Instead, despite the 32 degree temps with a wind chill of 22 degree the snow turned the fire roads into a goo topped frozen yogurt. It was nearly impossible to keep any momentum going unless I kept the throttle open. Even then I didn't go anywhere fast. The creek is still very high as the totals of the water table remain at the highest levels since before I was born. I had planned on fording the creek near the damn but the cold cold water had seemed to have no trouble keeping its momentum as it rushed down and away from the damn.

It is deeper than you think and very COLD!

I ended up getting in an estimated exact 24.6 miles in a few minutes short of 2 hours. It was great to be riding outside again but I know I have a lot of work to do to get my fitness back close to a shadow of what it once was.

Cross Dressing

So I haven't really been cross dressing but I have been riding cross, A LOT! It's all I can think about recently. My new favorite 20-30 mile loop from the house has me riding over to Pocahontas State Park and hitting up some fireroads then some singletrack and then back to the house. I can tell from the way my body hurts after these rides I am not in the shape I once was or could be in. The other tell tell factor are my averages on the singletrack. Granted I am on a cross bike and not the BUSS but I think I can get the times closer to each other with some more time on the saddle. The question of the day is, Do I put gears back on it for training purposes or do I train with the SS gear setup at 48x16 and put the gears back on for cross season?

Cobblestone Cross - Pole Green

Better start position than last week

Got the hole-shot

Was caught and passed in the barriers on first lap.

Couple of laps later I was brought back by two riders and sat in 4th.

Could see 5th place (red) bringing me back in while the course switched back and forth.

Suffered on every lap trying to hold a fast pace down the backstretch.

Took a lesson from the master JB in the barriers at the end of the second to last lap.

Starting the last lap, I saw the 3rd place rider with his head down. Decided to try to reel him back in. Caught him at the end of the front stretch entering the switchback climbs. Tried to take advantage of the surprised look on his face and kept the hammer down hoping I wouldn't blow up before the finish.

Nice superman remount after the barriers on the last lap.

Sprint to the 3rd place finish.

Was a great race and thanks go out to Cobblestone Bikes for hosting the event. Will definitely be back next year hopefully for 45 minutes of suffering instead of 30. The third place finish leaves me only needing to capture 2 upgrade points next weekend.