Almost done.

Tomorrow's ride isn't a given. But it should be do-able on some very tired legs. I did shuffle the rest day, though, to align the back-to-back rides over the weekend. I did some saddle experimentation on the Highball. To do it. I laid out a short lap route. This would allow me to dump the Highball if any pain developed and swap over to the rhoadie bike. The route...



... bring a variety of surfaces. It includes the Green, Purple, and Triangle trails as well as a healthy does of tarmac. This is a great training loop. With enough sample of each surface to get a lot of tempo work on the tarmac portions and some trail on the trail portions.



Saturday I tried adjusting the pitch of my existing saddle. By mile 20... I was in the same painful position. Swap bikes, and finish.

Sunday I put a redundant Toupe' on the Highball. The thought here was that the sway-back of the Romin may be causing some of the problem with the more upright mountain bike position. The Romin works fine on the rhoad bike. The flatter profile of the Toupe' would give me another data point.



The weather this weekend has been ideal. Recent rains have helped pack the trails, which are in better shape.



As I hit CallOut today, my front brake is screaming! Sounds like contaminated pads. When I get out of Purple trail powerline section and back on the sidewalk... I try a good test...



... uh-oh. A swipe with the finger and... Another brake line leak. That's it for me and Shimano hydraulic lines. Warrantied or not, I simply don't want to fool with another go-round.

As I finish the first lap, the bum is hurting pretty bad. Not quite as bad as before, but still it's rough. All is not lost though, as I have a better idea on what I need to look for in a replacement saddle.

So... a few lingering problems. But I've shocked the body with some good volume. After a day or two of recovery I'll be able to evaluate where my fitness is, and where I want to go with next year. Overall, I'd call the last week a success.