May 13th (Afternoon)
· Fluids Intake
o Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 cup of coffee (with cream and sugar), 3 bottles of water
o Afternoon: 2 bottles of water
· Food Intake:
o Morning: 2 pieces of wholegrain toast with butter and peanut butter, 1 tapioca pudding
o Afternoon: 2 pieces of lasagna, 1 rice krispy square
Today’s ride felt pretty good. I felt much better starting out (no stomach “heaviness” or “queasiness” as I’ve experienced pretty much daily for the last few weeks). Maybe this food thing is already starting to make a difference? Guess I’ll have to eat some high fatty and sugar foods now to see for sure, eh??? :) Just kidding...
It’s funny how the portion of Summit drive where I ride up from Springhill to Berwick is getting quite easy. I’ve been in 2:4 and 2:5 combos at the top the last couple of times. I remember the first time I rode this, I was just pleased that I made it without stopping! I was probably in the granny gear too... Actually, on Wednesday, I caught up to another biker heading up the hill and had to slow right down until my turn off to Berwick (no room to pass with cars flying by).
Going down into Peterson’s creek was controlled, but I didn’t make the technical areas as well as I think I can. That being said, I also tried not to berate myself for it this time! The straight and sandy section at the top I went really slow with one foot down as a hiker was right there (I didn’t think he’d appreciate it if I lost control and took him with me over the edge to the bottom...) I also noticed that someone with a huge rear tire (and I’m sure it was close to a 3” wide tire if they make them that big) pretty much dragged his rear wheel the entire way down. It was brutal, as the rocky terrain was already giving me fits, but now I have this trench that I kept bouncing in and out of... However, I did notice him going up the other side as I started heading up as well. He was resting at the top end of the sandy switchback when I started heading up towards it. Going up I felt pretty wasted, really, still with 4 stops but I started each section a bit sooner than normal so I’m sure I was at 1/4 of the way walking. I never did catch the other biker, but I noticed two things. One, I’m sure his tire was 3” wide, and two, I could tell that he stopped and walked pretty much the exact same sections I did (you can tell this both by how deep the tire tracks are, plus how straight; straight means either he’s heading down or he’s pushing, whereas a track that winds from side to side indicates hard pedalling on the steep sections).
Going through Frolek’s land had some new and interesting challenges this time. I’m not sure what, but they dragged something along the entire road up to the gate on the east side. They’ve torn up the road again, but I can’t tell with what. The drag marks were about 1” across by maybe 2” deep spaced evenly about 4” apart all the way across the road. Maybe they were dragging logs? Whatever it was, it once again made for a very interesting ride. But, hey, I guess they just want to keep me on my toes, eh?
The pipeline section before Rose Hill was as good as usual, I hit some pretty high speeds through the middle of the hills for sure. Still walked the last hill of course. However, as I rode from the last peak to where the trail crosses Rose Hill Road, the same biker I had followed out of Peterson’s creek came down from a higher up trail and continued on in front of me towards Juniper! And, of course, he rode too slow! :( I caught up with him on the gradual down part of the trail where I get some decent speeds (made me realize how many rocks I actually ride over that I couldn’t see before at higher speeds). But, thankfully, he took the main path to Juniper so I took the pipeline again and had a blast traversing the hillside through there.
In the end, the time was pretty good, speeds were average, and I felt pretty good at the end. I’m finding that I’m not wanting to just curl up and die any more when I get home, bonus! Last night I worked on fixing up our mower and even cut the grass in the back yard. Seems like I’m starting to get more into a “groove” lately.
May 14th (Morning)
· Fluids Intake
o Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 2 glasses of water, 1 glass of milk
o Morning Of: 1/4 glass of water
· Food Intake
o Evening Before: 2 pieces of lasagna, 1 large helping of salad with croutons and Caesar dressing, 1 English muffin toasted with butter and peanut butter
o Morning Of: Nothing
My ride down through the trail network was really good this morning! I made the second steep finally again (first time with the SPD’s!) I think I’ll be trying the first one as well soon. The quick little down-and-up switchback I made better than the last couple of days, but still went a bit wide into the next corner, so it’s not 100% yet like I was before. Still rather strange, but maybe this is due to it being drier now or something. When I do make it, I have a much better speed to start up the next hill. The dips and the 2x6 bridge were nice and smooth again, I think my confidence is building slowly. And then of course the fast, hardpacked double track heading to Valleyview was good, even faster than normal. And I managed a bit of airtime off the ledge just before the trail drops down to Valleyview at the end (up ‘till now, it’s been more of a small wheelie or maybe a bunny hop off the ledge).
The streets to Lansdowne weren’t that great, really, with only being in the big ring a few times in the end. I had to slow right down at 10th avenue for the light, which once again absolutely kills my momentum for getting up the next hill in the big ring. But, from TRU to work I felt much better and had the 2:2 combo for most of the way up until Dufferin. I rode on the street right from the end of the trail, so no more sidewalk riding with this route. I managed another good time of 26.5 minutes, so I’m happy with that, especially for a Friday ride.
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