May 31st (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 multigrain toast with butter and peanut butter (less butter than normal), 1 banana and 2 vanilla Oreo’s
o Afternoon: 3 pieces of pizza
I’ve noticed that I’m drinking less water during the day, I wonder if that’s a good thing or a bad thing??? Anyways, today’s ride was technically good but physically tiresome. I made the stretch down into Peterson’s Creek up to the first troublesome switchback, but then rode the section between it and the next one which I haven’t done yet since the big rain. So, really, this was my stretch through here since the trail was torn up. On the way back up I made it right to the bottom of the sandy switchback. I also made it passed the stump at the top where my normal 4th stop is and thus made it in only 3 stops again for the 2nd time. The whole time I had to convince my brain to shut up and quit whining. Once that was accomplished, my body kept going like I know it can! :)
Again, I just took the regular route across Frolek’s land. There was a big rain storm that I was following, probably about 20 minutes behind it or less, so the trail was pretty wet with lots of puddles. Actually, a rainbow came out at one time, so I tried snapping a picture with my cell phone and will post it here. It was pretty cool!
I should've snapped a shot sooner, as when it first came out the clouds were quite black behind it. Oh well, this is still a decent shot I guess!
The pipeline hills at Rose Hill were pretty tough, and they’re getting pretty churned up and sandy. So now I’m going pretty slow down, which means no speed or momentum to make the next hill up and thus I walked the final two again. The final stretch to Juniper, however, was as fun as ever. It hasn’t changed really at all with the rain, other than becoming narrower as the vegetation gets taller and wider.
All in all, however, the ride was very slow. I had a whopping time of 46.5 minutes, one of my worst yet (and no headwind or detours to blame). My average is typically around 44 minutes, so I’d better get working on that number!
June 1st (Morning)
· Fluids Intake
o Evening Before: 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 glass of milk
o Morning Of: Nothing
· Food Intake
o Evening Before: 2 farmer sausage sandwiches, 2 pieces of sesame seed toast with margarine and peanut butter
o Morning Of: Nothing
This morning’s ride was pretty tiresome as well. What is it about Tuesday’s? Monday mornings are always so much fun, and then Tuesday mornings seem to be pretty brutal. I looked back, and while it hasn’t happened every Tuesday, for the most part my slowest times are on a Tuesday. This is really odd, and I have to wonder why? Is it because Monday feels so good that I overdo it and ride too hard? Anyways, I had a decent time of 20 minutes to Lansdowne, but I really had to mentally push to get that time as I just wanted to go slow and easy! It helped to have another biker about 2 blocks behind me...
However, even though physically I wasn’t having a great ride, I had a perfect technical section coming out of Juniper. For the first time yet, I made both the steep sections! Granted, I need to either lower my seat next time like I used to do or stick my butt on the back tire as I was way too much over my front tire and was asking for an endo for sure! But, I made both of them with confidence. And then, I made the down-and-up switchback again for the 2nd time in a row, and made both of the trail dips without getting grabbed by any annoying tree branches this time. All in all, a great section, my best yet! So even if I didn’t feel that great later, this really pumped me up this morning.
Going up into Kenna Cartwright I was closing in on an older lady walking her two dogs. As I didn’t want to scare them, I tried clearing my throat well in time, which made the one dog (some Labradoodle-type mutt) turn, bark and then start charging me. I wasn’t too worried, until the lady turned and started yelling at him and running towards us! So, I figured I’d do the safe thing and just stop. As soon as I stopped moving, he just stood there, but when I moved or said anything, he’d start barking at me! Hah! Oh well, the lady was somewhat embarrassed, but hey, I think I know what it’s like to have a dog that acts like an idiot! Plus, he was just doing his job and protecting her. After a brief conversation with her, I kept on and continued the ride, which went well. I met two other bikers coming down the Reservoir trail but other than that it was quiet and peaceful as always. My little chipmunk buddy wasn’t there, so maybe he found a safer breakfast spot this morning.
My front rotor is getting full power again, but still pulses/jerks. Although, I don’t think it is as bad as last time so maybe I’ll try more sanding this weekend. Maybe I just didn’t sand it down enough to fully get rid of the “sticky” spot? Regardless, I love the power I have with the bigger rotor and have to be sure to treat it with respect as it now probably has enough power to throw me over if I’m not careful!
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