A Mechanic's Wife

So, I started swapping parts this morning on Ashleigh's commuter (bar, stem, etc.) because it is on it's way out the door. I left it halfway done, totally forgetting that she'd want it for school as well as a ride to 7 peaks she had planned. She sent me a text asking if she should take her mountain bike (no) or what? I told her to drop the seat on my commuter and use it. She didn't like that too much so she decided to put the bike back together. Put the stem and baron , fixed the brake levers and cables back up and rode off. I got home and her bike was gone, and let me tell ya, I was pretty impressed. She was pretty proud of herself too. She should be, she did a fine job. Best of all, she did it all right too! Headset adjustment and everything. Nice job Ash!

Wednesday Night Worlds v.9

Woah it was a good one today. I really struggled the first two laps today, after my brief break from riding the legs felt pretty low on power. Any time it started getting steep (which was twice) my legs would start complaining. Luckily it's a pretty flat course so I was mostly okay. Brandon, Stuart, Kenny and I grouped up towards the end of the second lap; Brandon came by along with my second wind. We both attacked each other and put some distance on the other two. We traded places back and forth the next two laps and really worked off each other. I got in front of him whenever I could coz he was filming and I wanted to be the star! Brandon and I really fed off each other. I'm sure we cruised a lot faster than we would have on our own. I know that I descended much better with him on my back than I did the first two laps.

3 races in 2 days is a lot...

Last Wednesday was the Deer Valley Pedalfest, which is one of my favorite courses of the year, as well as one of the most painful. Aside from Little Stick, which is the most brutal climb anywhere in the world, it is full of fun, fast, sweeping singletrack. We ended up racing in 45 degree weather that was on the verge of a thunderstorm the entire evening. It was cold but the course was perfect: dry without dust. Although I rode around for 20 minutes before the race, I didn't get warmed up and really struggled up the first climb. It was amazing how much easier it was the second time, even though I was getting worn out. I ended up chasing for a rider for 3rd most of the race, I caught him well after I thought it was too late, but ended up taking the place by 5 seconds. There was a rider in our category that is on the Bahati Foundation team, so all of us singlespeeders can take consolation in the fact that we raced a rider who earns a salary. The local pros can too, as the entire Cannondale Factory team showed up, including Jeremiah Bishop, and the current world XC marathon champion.

The next night Dan and I headed up to the Soldier Hollow race where we took 3rd and 4th, and then jumped in our car right after finishing to get to the night ride. We knew we wouldn't have a chance here, because we didn't know the trails. We kept up for part of the climb before we each "got lost." Or is that "got tired?" We were both pretty cooked but had a blast riding with the Draper crew.

I was intent on taking Friday off but Dan talked me into a "recovery ride" up to Sundance. We did take it pretty easy, and the recovery came in the form of s'mores bars at the deli.

Saturday we rode the Nebo loop. This was the best ride of the week for me. It was a blast riding all day long and not getting tired. I've said it before, but the real payoff of all that winter riding is more being able to do epic rides without worrying about making it than performing well in races.
15 hours of riding this week, including 3.5 of racing (at 1 hour race pace!) I guess that fried chicken won't hurt too much....right?

Dilemma

The Deer Valley ICUP race got rescheduled for this Wednesday evening at six. Which is great, racing on Saturday would have been miserable. There is only one problem, there's another race Wednesday. And it's weekday worlds. And now I don't know which one to go to. There are a few pros and cons for each race. At the ICUP race I get to race in the single speed category, which means I don't get dropped on the downhills as much, since we all have to coast. It's at a course we only get to race once a year. And, it's like all prestigious, or something. The weekday race has it's advantages too. It's at Soldier Hollow this week, a course that tends to suit me. It's low key and fun, and even if someone crashes into you and messes up your race, it's "just a Wednesday nighter." It's also a lot cheaper. Like 30 bucks. On top of that, Mark declared it double points week to try and attract us it over the ICUP. Not that it matters, since I'll miss the second half of the season anyway, but I'm doing pretty well in points, which is kind of cool. Missing it would drop my pointage by quite a bit. Big deal right?

So, I'm like 50/50 right now. Which would you do? Which are you doing?

Pre-Race Mentality

A race postponement is always bad for me, especially when it's weather related. I've usually spent the last few hours getting psyched up for a race, and then all the sudden I'm wondering whether the race will happen or not. Every change in the weather makes me more or less prepared for the starting gun. Luckily today, the race was postponed to another day, because by the time the anticipated start rolled around, I was mentally prepared for a nice drive down Provo Canyon, not for a sprint up Little Stick. Man I sure felt bad for those marathoners. A 5:30 AM start and pouring rain did not look like any fun at all. See you on Wednesday night. 6PM. Fortunately (or not), the single speed category didn't get cut down on distance.

Motor Dope

Yeah, coz if anybody needs some extra wattage, it's Cancellara:




This is like a conspiracy theory gone wrong.