It is funny. I've had a few people ask me how much weight I've lost. Honestly, I haven't lost a pound yet. I joke about it and say "Man, you gotta slow the bus down before you can try putting it in reverse!" which is partly true. However, while I may not have noticed much in the way of weight loss, I have noticed a lot in muscle gain. At this point, I think that is more important. Yes, the pounds need to come off so that my power to weight ratio becomes much higher. But if I can conquer the majority of these hills at this weight by simply the muscle gain, then when and if the weight does recede, all the better! Anyways, just some thoughts on my physical progress.
Friday's ride was really good. Granted, going down into Peterson's creek wasn't that great as I felt a bit out of control at points. I did make the same switchbacks as normal, although putting my foot down at the one (and the wrong/outside foot at that which made it that much more difficult in the end). However, the brakes didn't feel as grabby and my speed was a bit higher coming into the corners than I was comfortable with, but all in all it was not horrible.
Going up the other side was pretty good though with a record of only 4 stops to catch my breath. I still walked probably close the average amount of about 1/3 of the hill, but was consoled with the fact that I saw another rider ahead walking it today as well while I was coming down the other side, so there! :) Actually, I met up with about 4 riders today (2 of them walking up hills, hah!), so obviously Friday afternoon is the day for biking!
The peaks/valleys at Rose Hill were a ton of fun. I hit higher speeds and switched down to 2:2 combo and made the 2nd to last hill (I made it on Monday as well in 2:3, but not on Thursday in 2:1 (lost traction), so I'm thinking that the gear ratio does also affect traction). I still have yet to make the last hill, but then again I can hardly walk that hill, so it may be a while for me to make it riding!
The stretch from Rose Hill to Juniper was very fast. Maybe a bit too fast as some of the rocks I try to avoid I couldn't hardly see this time... :) One of these days I know I'm going to get a pinch flat, or a bent rim. Then again, that might be a side benefit of riding 60psi too... I'm thinking about putting my more aggressive tires on this weekend, but keeping them at 60psi, and seeing if that is a decent compromise. The entire way down Peterson's creek it is all I can do to keep the back wheel from dragging, so I'm thinking a more aggressive tread will help with that. And, if the pressure is still high, it might not be too bad on the street still. We'll see how that goes!
Anyways, time to go give the bike the weekly scrub down, oil and adjusting! See you on Monday!
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