Training Log Archive: gam

City cross

City cross. Got a flat front on the cobbles in the cemetery that the stan's sealed with about 12 psi in the tire, so i rode home carefully and filled it before riding the leheigh trails. Yay stans

Warmup for arrowhead #3

Arrowhead #3. We got some thunderstorms today that left a few sections of the course really muddy. The first half was generally ok, but I had some issues on the second part. My tires weren't gripping well and I had to take some of the corners at walking pace to keep from crashing. I went down in the field behind the backstop when I lost my front wheel in some mud. I managed to stay upright for 2 steps before falling superman style into the grass. As the race went on the course hardened up a bit and I was riding with a bit more speed, but by that point I had lost the field and was in TT mode to the finish. Broke my chain in the last field...

Sprint to the finish after my chain broke.

Stid Hill. Trails were really muddy. Tried to find the jumpoff and failed.

cyclocross at dryer. Jess flatted and I did loops up Atrain and down Kasha/Gully as I waited for her.

West Bay. The green trail is getting nice, except for the smelly mud.

Dryer. Brought Mike out mountain biking for the first time. He was a good sport

Second arrowhead race. I pumped up the tires on my mountain bike and rode it out to my car and when i grabbed my front brake it squealed a lot and didn't slow me down at all. The pads were worn down almost all the way to the bases, so I couldn't race my geared bike. I grabbed my singlespeed that's setup with a 32-20. To summarize the whole race - not enough gear. I was spun out the whole course. I had to spin what felt like 150 rpm to hang on the pack for the first lap, and that's not sustainable. I stopped trying to hang with people when we came back through the start/finish field and couldn't move my legs fast enough to hang on anyone's wheel. I started riding the flats slowly and trying to rip the singletrack sections. Not the most successful race strategy but I had fun.

warm up/cool down for the race

City cross with JS. A few cemetery loops and we hit the trails behind whipple park - they were dry for the first time ever. The sandy rollers on the moto loop were a lot of fun

Tryon and West Bay. I ran into Tom down by the creek and my easy ride around tryon turned into chase him around at full speed. The Green trail in West Bay is going to be awesome

Dryer. Trails were a little sandy but overall very good.

Rode Tryon. Back is a little sore.

Bay Park West. Trails are awesome.

Cross loops around the cemetery and gvp. Legs are still a bit burnt from the race yesterday

Jumping in a mountain bike race after a week off is rough.

The course was slightly modified from last year. They took out one of the climbs and went around the hill with some benched singletrack and then came up the other side with some switchbacks. I think I like it better this way.

I got the reverse holeshot on the start when the guy lined up left of me rode directly into my front wheel as he clipped in. I managed to pick up a few places on the field and then the course dips into the woods. The first section of singletrack is rough for me. I can't seem to figure out a flow or rhythm. It feels like driving with one foot on the gas and one foot on the brake.

The course also had a couple of A/B line choices. I felt like the B line was usually faster because they didn't add enough distance to make slowing down for an obstacle faster.

My race went ok. I took it out a little too easy on the first lap and my legs weren't feeling great. I also didn't do a great job of hydrating during the race and started to feel a cramp forming in my quad on the last hill on the last lap.

warm up lap and cool down

Rode dryer with JS. My eye healed enough to put contacts in.

Dryer. Got something in my eye on Bacon (a bug or sand, i have no idea). Woke up this morning with my eye totally red and sore. I have a scratched sclera, probably need to let it heal for 2 days before i can put contact lenses back in my eye.

Rode dryer with JS and SA. The wet side of EF was a little slick, otherwise the trails were in amazing shape

city cross

dryer

road ride down to the time trial course. Got a flat tire from a sharp piece of gravel