Training Log Archive: tommyturbo

Wildwood-Sunset-DT with Tracy: Good self talk is important. It wasn't easy, but I convinced myself not to ride yet again this week. Five rides with 13.5+ hours in the saddle made a rest day a good idea. Three hard mountain bike rides of nearly four hours each made for a great riding week.

Grand Ridge RT-Duthie-Soaring Eagle: Exorcising broken collarbone demons. I broke my collarbone last March 16th, riding over a section of tree roots at Soaring Eagle that I had ridden a thousand times. The how is easy: I fell and landed with a lot of force on my shoulder. The why still perplexes me. I rode over the roots today for the first time since I fell. I've ridden the trail 50+ times since then, always taking the easy way around the roots at the edge of the trail. It's still a spot that I could ride in my sleep, and that explains why I broke my collarbone. I had it on autopilot. The lesson learned is that one can never have it on autopilot when riding a mountain bike, no matter the trail, or how experienced the rider is.

Local trails, gravel, and paths: Ring of rain, not ring of fire. After overnight showers, all day on the radar map the Seattle area has been dry, but surrounded by a circle (more heart shaped now) of rain and snow. The circle is supposed to close around 3 PM, but in the meantime I did my fourth dry ride (9+ hours) of the first 5 days of what was supposed to be an atrocious week of weather.

Grand Ridge RT-Duthie-Soaring Eagle: A more subtle weather bonus today. Sunday's forecast of all day rain was totally off base and I did a 3h 45m dry ride on perfect trails. Monday's rain and wind forecast was half right, but the wind didn't bother me on my ride. I took a DOB yesterday, but I could have ridden for 7 hours before the "all day" rain started late in the afternoon. This morning was supposed to be partly cloudy with steadily increasing clouds throughout the day. It clouded over just as I left to ride, but almost immediately the sun popped out...and stayed out for the entire ride! Beautiful day to ride.

Syc-Gunnery

Local trails, gravel and paths: Perseverance Plan. The rain ended and the sun came out, so I reconsidered my planned walk (nap?) and went for an afternoon ride. The sun disappeared before I left the house and the wind blew, but I didn't get rained on. Bonus: the moon briefly aligned at the perfect angle with the only patch of blue sky, its brightness enhanced by the otherwise dark background of thick clouds. Views of swollen Issaquah Creek were nice as well. Perseverance training plan: no structure, ride during any and all decent weather windows, rest when weather is really crappy:)

Grand Ridge RT-Duthie-Soaring Eagle: Dogs Day featuring Hazel and Rambo. It was great to see record numbers of people using the trail, many with their dogs. It was once again obvious that dogs have not evolved to understand English. I've encountered Hazel a number of times. Today's "command" was, "You know what to do Hazel. Move off of the trail." Hazel remained standing in the middle of the trail. Later on, an eight pound ankle biter did a U-turn to chase me just as his owner advised, "You're not going to catch him!" I nicknamed him Rambo for his rambunctiousness, but a forceful "NO" from me stopped him in his tracks.