Bar-H Ranch Pre-Ride

M-o-M had me wanting more rock and hill skills. My lack of confidence did me in. The only way to get better on gravely hills is to ride gravelly hills! Since there is no where to do that in Houston, and with an upcoming race a trip upto Bar-H Ranch in St. Jo, Texas was the weekend plan.

This really is a pretty place...

...with great single track. Above is one of my favorite spots. This is a nice downhill with a little kick halfway to catch a bit of air before hooking a sharp left... fun!

I like riding through the creek bed, too.

Tire research. Lets see... I can see CrossMarks, SmallBlock 8s, Karmas... I prefer SB8's here. The race loop has a bit of everything. Sand, hard pack, gravel, loose rock, slick rocks, you name it.

"The Oaks" is a neat spot too. I bet this section would be really creepy at night!

This is up on the ridge overlooking the valley. It's a long climb up there, but worth it for some nice rocky riding. I didn't take a single picture of the rocky part! Too busy concentrating on riding it, I suppose?

This was the initial run for the Jetboil. It rawks! Some hot coffee made for a nice afternoon treat! Good to get out of the chily 40-mph winds for a while, too.

Got some more riding in on Sunday. Much warmer and sans wind. I just wish I had more time. The riding time definately helped! Sunday I floated a lot of stuff I struggled with on Saturday. Still need more time, but the improvement is comforting.

Ridin' in the dark

C'mon time change!!
.

I feel different

Was it was the jaw dropping beauty of Big Bend? Was it leaving the bounds of concrete and urban density? Was it the renewed sense of adventure of exploring a place I've never been before? Quite possibly all of the above. My attitude and outlook are so upbeat this week. That is a great feeling!

My goal of spending my funding on experiences as opposed to stuff was a good idea.

Put a 1 in front of it...

The trip to Terlingua was indeed long... but with views like this...

This...

This...

And this...

Totally worth it! (Keep in mind I suck at scenics... these pictures don't begin to do the place justice)

You can't call what I did in Terlingua racing. I walked outta there with a few bruises and undetermined injuries. Hopefully all recoverable. Otherwise, I'm trying to put this one in the past and not agonize over it too much.

Truckin'!!

There was lotsa this...

Some of this...

A bit of that...

And almost zero of this...

It's great to be out of the city! Phish's JazzFest '96 show was a perfect complement to a great day...

Gone!

My stack of countdown cards is almost gone!

Good Day In The Woods

Worked over the legs pretty good today at Huntsville. It was a good day to be in the woods. The woodpeckers were out in force this morning. Tok,tok,tok,tok! Neat sound. The other sound was from the wind howling through the upper canopy. Very good day to be on the protected trails!

The Great Bar Wrap Search

After ditching the Specialized Roubaix bar tape, I went back to Fizik tape. This is what I had before. I liked it, but wanted a bit more cushion. While buying some more, I spotted the Fizik Bar:gel. Thought I give that a shot for that bit of cushion I was missing. Don't really care for the red color, but that's all my shop had on hand...

The bar:gel goes on before the wrap, simple...

What I really like about the Fizik tape is the cross section. You can overlap the tape, without the sprial lump of most tapes.

The final product...

The verdit: with the bar:gel, it's perfect. I love the texture of the Fizik tape. Leathery, but not slipppery. The gel perfects the feel.

The rest of the day was filled with a short ride, and running around town gathering supplies in a bit of a panic. Gathering supplies for a dinner party and realization that I depart for Terlingua in five days set in. Reviewing my receipts I discovered I bought some @ss today...

I don't remember getting any @ss today?! But it only cost me eight bucks. That's not bad for some @ss. It usually costs much, much more. HA! Not quite as good as when I got invoiced for a sex change at work, but pretty close...

This Watch....

While I've never had to store this watch up me bum, I've done a lot wearing this watch. Its been dropped, hit, dunked, rained on, lost, found, chewed on (by the dog), peed on (again the dog...) and more recently covered with paint overspary. I think the painting did it in. Automotive paint and solvents aren't so good for rubber. In its final days the rubber became brittle and cracked. Ten years and two batteries later it's finally done in.

I bought this watch under supurious circumstances. Me and a friend had a bet on who could find the biggest watch. I lost. But I kept it anyway, and wore it. The G-Shock really is incredibly durable even if ugly.

With durability and value like that, what else would I replace it with? It took a while to find another one. I don't think Casio makes it anymore. But I located one. This one may last until I retire!

I'm A Dislexic Insomniac

I've been lying awake at night wondering if there really is a doG? Many sleepless nights over the past two weeks. I think part of the reason is due to training. It would seem that training would make you fatigued, and eager for sleep.

But... there is a logic trap at work. My day-job is spent jockeying a desk. That involves almost zero physical exertion. Daytime hours are my lowest physical demands of the day. This time of year, it's dark before I complete my rides. My physical and mental activities are just starting to come upto speed - as the sun goes down. The height of my mental and physical simulation occur in darkness! I think my body has grown to associate darkenss with activity and daylight with rest! Ugg... I need my sunshine!

Being up late and restless, I find things to do. Like rewrapping my handlebars. I thought about doing more detail, but this tutorial at >STUPID HURTS< covers it better than I ever could. Plus, I suck at wrapping bars.

I used Specialized Roubaix tape this time. In the package it seemed to have just the right amount of 'squishiness'. I don't like the super-squishy stuff, nor the totally flat stuff. I thought I'd like this tape. I don't. Pull it tight enough to keep it from moving around it flattens all the 'squishiness' out of it. It provides zero cushioning. Wrap it loose enough to have some 'squishiness' it moves around too much. It ends up with gaps between the wraps.

It'll be gone as soon as I can make it to the bike shop for a replacement.

Overpass Repeats

Here in the flatlands we don't do hill repeats. We get overpass repeats by the light of the moon! A strong headwind helped the effect and made for a good workout.

Curiously, Two mechanicals last night. I dropped a chain for no apparent reason starting a 'climb'. There I was spinning away, slowing down, downshifting to no avail. It took a few momement for my hypoxic brain to comprehend what was going on. Had a flat later, too.

After riding I made some enchiladas. Cooked up some chicken with some mexican spices.

In the blender went fat free sour cream, cilantro, jalapeno salsa, and some green chilis. Grilled some onions and put them with the chicken. Rolled 'em and baked 'em.

Tasty!

Yearly Flu

I contracted the flu this week. A touch of fever kept me off the bike for a few days. Notably, I was sick almost exactly the same time last year... Hot tea, vitamin C, and asprin have been my buddies.

Today I was able to get out for a subdued pace ride. First time since Tuesday.

During the week I made some stuffed pitas. Pretty good. And served well as comfort food.

Next week will be a delicate balance between trying to reintroduce some structured intensity and not driving the sickness into a chest cold. The temptation is to come back full blast. But there's no way to 'make up' the lost time. The time is simply gone...

Bad Day on the BIke?

Is a bad day on the trail possible? Nah. But it could have been better. I headed out during my lunch for some Memorial Park trail riding. I was anxious to trail test the new bars. The setup wasn't too good. Too much weight on the front wheel and the reach felt too far.

Back to the drawing board. Luckily, I keep measurements. Yes... I am a nerd. I learned from motorsports - always keep track of what you changed!

Looking over the setup sheets it was obvious. I increased the reach by over an inch-and-a-half by going to a straight bar. Those spec bars had a lot of sweep! Tonight...a shorter stem and another trail-trial tomorrow.

Setting up a bike is somewhat more difficult than a race car. There's not as much adjustability, and the bike seems to be very sensitive to very small changes. Part of the problem is that I don't understand the dynamics very well. Hmmm... learning.

Just Call Me Goldilocks...

Took a short endurance (easy) ride today. I had two goals. First, not to go too hard. This was a ride just to open up the throttle a touch. I tend to go too hard after a break. Fresh legs feel great. Hard to hold back. I was determined to keep this ride easy. I did.

Second mission was to check the fit on the new handlebar. As expected, it was too low. Getting the right fit took me a while. I'm really sensitive to bar height. I mean REALLY sensitive, like ±1/4" makes a discernible difference. I couldn't get it right. Too tall or too short by trying different stem angles. Then it dawned on me... I have spacers I can move above/below the stem on the steerer tube. DOH! After several trials, I nailed it! It's perfect!

I looking forward to next week's intensity!

The Fine Art of Recovering

This week has me wondering what I'd do without cycling. On the face, rest and recovery should be simple, eh? But sometimes NOT doing something is harder than actually doing what you're passionate about. The body has different ideas. It needs the recovery time. I've slept a ton this week. I was more fatigued than I thought. Training fatigue can be very deceptive.

I often get the blues during rest periods. I attribute it to a lack of endorphins and hormonal changes. It can really mess with your head if you are unprepared. My friend likens it to what women go through monthly. I'm sure that's much more dramatic. It explains a lot! Gotta respect that.

I have found some things to do other than riding. On my last ride the front derailler started acting up on the Addicks levee. It wouldn't drop from the big ring to mid-ring. I didn't stop to fix it, instead forcing the shift with a swift kick. Well, I hoisted the Stumpy into the stand to find this...

A little rock trapped into the linkage. Luckily I didn't break anything with my percussive shifting method. It was an easy fix.

A friend recently broke a crank spindle. It was very rusty. It's a good idea to grease these every once in a while to keep corrosion at bay. I removed the crank arm...

cleaned and greased it up...

I also replaced my bottle holder. This is an Arundel side loader. It's asymettrical, so the bottle comes out of the side. A bottle fits with a regular holder in the Stumpjumper frame, but just barely. And it's ackward getting it in an out. I hope this works better. I'm a bit skeptical it will hold securely enough on rough terrain.

I replaced my bars too. The spec bars didn't never me fit very well. I cut them down a while back. That helped. Still, the bars didn't fall across my knuckles very well. Hard on my wrists. Too much upsweep and backsweep. I wanted to lower the bars just a bit more, too.

A flat bar with 3° backsweep was the solution. This bar is perfect. It was the same width as my cut bars, so I didn't have to cut them. They fall on my knuckles perfectly. They are indeed lower. Dramatically. Maybe too low. But that's fine, because I can ditch the negative rise stem I have on there now. I hate the way neg rise stems look.

I didn't negelect the chi-chi bike. The dang seat post has always squawked. Loudly. It sounds like someone practicing with a goose call! I've finally had enough. Since you can't grease a carbon post, I used some Tacx carbon assembly paste. Supposedly this stuff helps. If not I'm ditching the seat post...

Some dirt, sorta

A late start coupled with a closure of I45 placed a spanner in today's plan. The planned 5-hours at Huntsville wasn't going to happen. I contemplated riding loops around Memorial Park for about 3-seconds. No. I ended up cobbeling together a route using mapmyride that had some dirt, a lot of distance, and not too much traffic.

The ride got off to a rough start. First, I bent the spring clip on my rear brake pad when I swapped out wheels. Ugg. Fixed that. I departed and quickly discvoered that arm warmers weren't going to be enough. I returned and grabbed my heavier riding jacket and lead out again. Too much! I returned yet again and left with the mid-weight jacket. I'm 36-years old and still can't dress myself sometimes!

The route took me past the overcrowded Memorial Park and under the 610-loop...

This is no way to keep a driveway a secret!

I meandered my way through Hedwig Village and Hunter's Creek in an effort to avoid traffic. Remember you can't ride on the roads in this area...

I made my way to the Beltway and jumped on the Terry Hershey Park trail. I rode the paved side to stay out of the wind...

I made my way all the way down to the Highway 6 spillway...

Then onto the top of the levee that lines George Bush Park. I followed the southward loop...

and then turned northbound across the middle of the park. Let me tell you riding northbound today absolutely sucked. Winds were 18-knots and gusting 24+. Nothing else to do but grind it out.

An inspirational sign!

By the time I picked up the eastbound Addicks Reservoir levee at Barker Cypress and I-10 it was dark. My light is a "be seen" light not a "seeing" light. Luckily, it was a full moon and the clouds were clearing.

It's neat how your primal instincts take over. As the darkness closed in I kept reducing volume on the iPod. I wasn't eskeerd of anything, but the sound grew increasingly annoying. This has never happend to me in well-lit areas. Neat. No loup garous were spotted.

The levee turns to the north before intersecting Clay Road. That northbound run was a total grind. I couldn't see. I was cold. And the wind was beating me up. A full on threshold attack yielded 9-mph into the wind. Ugg. I was veeery happy to see Clay Road to keep the wind off my nose. From there it was a simple ride back to White Oak Bayou trail and home. The wind was quartered just enough off my back to give a little boost to get me home.

Total for the ride, just over 5-hours. I'm cooked. Some 'overpass' repeats tomorrow, then an active recovery week...

Trainer h#ll

Three straight workouts on the trainer. PFFFFT! The weather hasn't driven me to the trainer, but my schedule has. I'm in the middle of negotiating a large contract. This has kept me at the office late the last couple of days. Should put pen-to-paper on that today.

The trainer workouts aren't very interesting. Just some tightly focused intervals to keep the mind and body engaged.

Today, its off the trainer for a theshold ride at lunch under beautiful skies and perfect temps. That's followed by this afternoon's intervals session. Those will be fun! Three maximal efforts for 2-minutes, three maximal efforts at 1-minute and three maximal efforts at 30-seconds. Five minutes of rest between sets.

Crackle, Fizzle, POOF!

Tempo ride today. Scheduled for 3-hours. It took forever for the legs to warm up. They never did feel better than overcooked noodles. After a bit over an hour I meowed and headed home. I don't know what my effort was yesterday. With no powertap or HRM, I just rode... hard. Perhaps, it was harder than I thought? Meh.

Came home, thoroughly cleaned both bikes, and readied myself for a rest day tomorrow...

The Weatherman Lied!

Give the weathercaster the benefit of a doubt, and say he was mistaken, not a liar. Nonetheless, the 10pm forcaster said to expect to be woken by thunder in the morning. Instead, it was bright and sunny. If it rained at all, it was undetectable. This was good news. No trainer! Off to Double Lake I went...

I chose Lake-Lake today because I had anaerobic intervals on the schedule. Since Lake-Lake is so smoooth it's possible to ride flat-out intervals with a rest period. There's nothing techy to take the pace down. This worked out well. The legs are really cooked after today's effort.

Lots of hiccups with hardware today. My rear hub is one step from imploding. It's clunky. Not sure if I can take out the clunk by adjusting the cones or not. My front hub is also clunky, but nearly as bad. The fork stanchions are dry as a bone, leading me to worry about the foam rings. And my cadence sender battery died about halfway through todays ride. Time for a full maintenance day next week.

Triplex of Rides

Year 2009 A.D. began beautifully. My training plan called for a relaxed 3.5-hour endurance ride. This is exactly what I did. Like New Year's Eve, I did it on dirt. And it was glorious!

A check of the weather forecast this morning caused a change in plans. My plan called for anaerobic intervals for today. But... the forecast shows rain tomorrow, monday, tuesday, and possibly more. You gotta ride dirt when you can this time of year, so I spent another 3.5-hour ride on the dirt of Memorial Park. And it was glorious again!

I'll move the interval work to the trainer tomorrow. If I have to be on the trainer, I might as well be suffering! This works OK because Sunday's plan is another endurance ride. That backs up against the intervals OK.