I didn't get a ride in all weekend even though the weather was perfect for riding. I had too many other things going on and the one little window I could have rode, I was too tired and it would not have been worth it. With everything else going on all week, this means I did not ride since last Monday. This is not good considering that I plan on racing in 2 weeks. Not just racing, but racing the SS on a hilly course. Should be fun. I have not rode the SS much this spring.
The weather was looking great for Monday to get a ride in. The plan was not not help with baseball practice and get out to Ferdinand for a ride. I was going to ride as many laps as I could or until I fell over and could not move anymore. What ever came first. Last minute message telling me that practice is now a practice game. Dammit! I really hate to miss a game even if it is only a practice game. It is a better way to see how the kids are doing in the game environment. So, this put a wrench in to my plan. I left work a little early and busted out to the trails to put in a lap as fast as I could and still make it back in time to watch the game.
I made it to the trails early enough that I thought I should be good to get to the game. The bottom of Foxey had a tree down that I had to cross and as it started to turn up, I thought the SS might be difficult, but I ended up making it up fairly quick. I tried to keep the pace up for as long as I could. I didn't think it would last long, but I was still doing ok. I did see the heart rate up higher than I can normally sustain power at, so I figured I would hit a wall somewhere.
When I hit the fire tower road, I almost took the right like I would normally do, but with it being dry and I knew I really needed the climbing, I took the left toward Kyana. I was breathing hard from the climb, but still moving along. There was still a tree down at the bottom of the big climb on Kyana, so I had to get off to climb over. I tried to get started again, but it did not last long and unfortunately I had to push my way up.The rest of that section was mostly fast and fun. I did see a guy looking for some mushrooms, but he said he was not having any luck. The fire lane section was wet in spots and made some sections interesting.
There has been some trail work on the twin lakes section that has made it the best that I have seen it in a long time, well except for the section around the bridge. That section was on the wet and muddy side. The bench cut climb was not the easiest, but I did make it up only a little slower than I had hoped. I did take the dam crossing and not the trail section. One thing I did do that I have not done in a while is take the trail on the right at the start of Southridge. I normally take the fire lane around, but figured I could use the conditioning. That only worked for a little bit and I was pushing again on the steep section. That is ok, pushing is hard work too and something that does not hurt to be stronger at.
I busted out the rest of Southridge as strong as I could. I was really feeling the effort by now and was not sure about some of the climbs. Several sections started to go by slower than I wanted because of it. I was not sure if I would be able to make it up the last climb. As I started to go around the corner before the climb, I just dug in and picked up the speed. I gave it my all and cruised right up the hill. I think my eyes were popping out of my head when I got to the top, but I knew it was the last climb of the loop and I was home free. I picked up the pace near the end seeing that my time was fairly good for the loop.
I ended up with probably my fastest lap in a real long time. At least doing all of the sections. The other reason is that I normally don't try to go as hard as I can for a full loop. I just go what with the flow. I need to do that more often to help me get faster. It is hard to push myself that hard with out someone else there or have a reason to keep pushing. Normally when I push like that, I have some point when I just need to catch my breath and my legs are toast from over cooking them. The real crazy thing is that I was on my SS and put in a good time. I now wonder if I can put in a faster time on the geared bike or not.
I could really tell it has been a while since I have been on the SS. My lower back was really hurting. I just need to keep working on it in the next two weeks before I have to make the trip to Ft. Duffield for the Ky race. That place is not flat.
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