June 8th (Afternoon)
· Fluids Intake
o Morning: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 bottle of water, 1 cup of coffee
o Afternoon: 1 bottle of water
· Food Intake
o Morning: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and peanut butter
o Afternoon: 2 Dad’s cookies, 2 baloney and cheese sandwiches on Rye bread
I’m not sure how much more I will worry about tracking my food and drink. I think I’m fairly settled into what does or doesn’t work for me, and so I will probably stop tracking this in a while.
Anyways, today’s ride was pretty good. I felt strong and fast, and yet my time wasn’t all that great, so I guess what I felt like wasn’t quite accurate to what I was actually doing? Hah! Anyways, I still missed the two switchbacks going down into Peterson’s creek, and in fact I walked most of the short, nasty section between. Coming down into Peterson’s creek was a bit scary as I realized my back brake was really doing nothing. Thank goodness my front brake was working really well, at least. But at the first nasty switchback, I came in a bit hot and fast so I stopped to see what was going on and it turned out that my cable was too short and therefore the brake arm was hitting the brake body without fully clamping the pads on the disc. Oops! I really need new pads on the rear brake, so they must be worn almost right down now. So, I grabbed my Allen key and did a quick on-the-trail fix that worked pretty well for the rest of the ride. But, man, even the brake arm and body were very hot by that point! I was extremely careful not to touch the disc itself as I would’ve for sure left some charred flesh on it had I tried... Ouch!
Going up the other side was really good. I made it even farther up than yesterday (by maybe a couple of feet) ‘till I bogged down in the deep sand and spun out. I also made the last stretch without losing traction today, meaning I’m back to my 3 stops and less than 1/4 of the way walking again. The new back tire was not too bad. It still feels a bit squirmy on the climbs, but I’m getting used to that and learning how to better control where my back tire is at all times. As for traction, it didn’t really let me down at all today. I might try turning it around for even better traction this weekend (screw the rolling resistance issues!).
Frolek’s land was good and fast, but I suddenly had a strange thing going on with my front brake. It suddenly became extremely grabby, to the point where anything but the lightest of pressure just about sent me over the handlebars. By the time I was past Rose Hill, it stopped and was more normal, so I have no idea what was going on... Maybe a bit of cow dung on the disc??? :) I might be onto something here... Anyways, I took the bypass again around the last hill at Rose Hill, which is really an enjoyable trail. And then I followed the pipeline trails through to Juniper, pushing it faster than normal, trying to gain confidence in my cornering and downhilling abilities. As I came off the pipeline trail at the end, I met up with Brian again, so we rode together into Juniper for the last stretch.
So, for day number 2 of full riding both ways, I still feel really good and that’s quite encouraging! I was worried that with the additional riding, I might burn out right away and not last the week, but so far so good.
June 9th (Morning)
· Fluids Intake
o Evening Before: 1 glass of Gatorade, 1 glass of juice, 1 glass of milk
o Morning Of: Nothing
· Food Intake
o Evening Before: 2 hot hamburgers (burger, bread and gravy)
o Morning Of: Nothing
This morning felt really good, but again my time was still about 3 minutes longer than Monday so I guess I didn’t feel as good as then! I had to re-wax my chain again this morning as it was already very squeaky after only two days. I guess with all the mud and rain, it shouldn’t surprise me. This wax is made more for dry weather riding really. The weather was a bit drizzly the whole way in this morning, getting heavier the closer I got to work. But, not enough to start making puddles again (one sunny day yesterday and most of the puddles have already dried up). I still missed the one hill on the pipeline section at Rose Hill, but I know I can make that one. Maybe I need to hit the granny gear for it? It’s just a tough shift to make, though, in the middle of a steep climb so we’ll see if I can do it properly. There’s a section right where I stop that would probably be where I’d need to hit the shift if I can. But, the rest of the way through to Peterson’s creek was good. Going down was still a blast, but that tough sandy switchback still got me. I can’t seem to make the turn in the deep sand, and really need to work on my control in sand. So far, that’s the one thing that seems to consistently screw me up, so it is something I really need to work on. Granted, the skinny back tire probably wasn’t the best choice for sand!
Going up the other side was my best effort yet. For some reason at the beginning I had trouble and even had to grab onto the fence at one point (no foot down, so still counts, right?). I ended up losing it on a very easy corner, so I guess I shouldn’t take anything for granted. But, I then made it up to the troublesome switchbacks (I need a name for these two switchbacks, like “The Devil in the form of a Switchback #1 and #2” or something? A bit long I guess..) After walking past the second switchback, I got back on and actually made it right up and about 1/2 way through the sandy section which was awesome! If I hadn’t missed the corner at the bottom, I would’ve only had 2 stops going up when I’ve been taking 4 the first two days this week.
The last two paved stretches up Springhill and Hugh Allan were not too bad all things considered, and I’m very stoked that after three rides in I still feel pretty good. I’m very excited that I can do this, and these tough sections will only get better as time goes on.
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