First DF lap of the year.

[lookingback]

I am not a fan of the Lemans style start. The idea of having a bunch of bike racers running in stiff carbon soled shoes that were never meant to be run in, towards a pile of bikes is well um.... stupid. The start is fine where it has been.

[air9r]

I'm not a big fan of Le Mans either. In fact, I hate to dismount for anything even though cyclocross is my main discipline now and I can't bunnyhop for beans. If I had a Le Mans start it would be more of a sadistic scramble on all fours up the steepest pitch to your bike then go...which means you are just better off going for the holeshot on the startline or coming to terms that 20 miles is a long way to catch up. I AM fan of making a tricky singletrack pass, and maybe even rubbing an elbow or two. That's just plain fun.

[air9r]

Thursday was DF5-1:20, Friday DF6-1:17 and having chainsuck problems because my little ring was worn out. I'd clean and lube the chain but by the time I'd get to Halfway Climb the chain would start to wrap around. Has to do the remainder in the middle ring which is equivalent to about 100 leg presses, I'm sure.

New little ring but deluge rains. DF7 1:34 this morning. Had to wear the thick tights, plastic rain cape and balaclava considering its still raining and near hypothermia weather. Its just plain sloppy out there with an additional five new trees across the trail. Its about 95% rideable but you really have to pick your lines to find the places you can get some grip (leaves vs goop) or (slick rock vs crumbling frost).

Puddling wasn't all that bad. Yes there are some raging brooks but at least you can navigate around most of the puddles. Not exactly a stellar ride this morning since I rode on th road last night until 6pm 33 miles in the wet & wind, then lost an hour with time change. Definitely not recovered.

Ended up losing the front wheel on a slick stick and did a superman into the Pine Tunnel bog. No harm done at that point since I was already muddy, cold and beat.

[air9r]

Its been a beautiful weather week & I finally got to enjoy DF8 with Derek Swist & Brian Rutter. It was a momentous occaision because I've ridden with them both extensively but never all three of us together. Only I truly know what this means because we are all so closely matched that it could be an absolute blessing or damnation! Nothing like having perfect matched training/racing partners but those are just the ones that can make you suffer the most!

Derek has done many of the DF laps with me on evenings when he gets out of work. When he gets his fitness he starts off faster than mean and makes me feel like an asthma patient on the first climb. Today he's got a lumberjack beard and about two rides on an mtb so he got the worst of the damage.

Rutter & I played a lot of great hockey on the pond. A true friend is a guy that never hesitate to help you shovel the ice. He helps me set up the course just before race day and has been an incredible help. Last year he raced expert and I raced Pro at Hodges Dam. Same number of laps, two different races. We finished within one second of each other.

Today we took it easy and it was great to have a little help from your friends because I flatted on the first descent only to find out my spare tube also had another hole I missed when I got it ready as a spare. Between Derek's glue patch kit and Rutter's CO2 we were able to complete DF8-1:24 instead of it become DF7.22 and walking home, especially since I was the only one on a 29er. I haven't tried stretching a 26" around a 29er rim yet and glad I didn't have to.

It was a good ride. Not really crazy muddy...more difficulty came from the ground being soft in spots. It just sucks the life out of you. With enough riding and warm weather we should be able to pack it down for decent rolling resistance by race day. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27631642

Here's a pic of Brian clearing $10 Pass. Don't count because it was Attempt 2! He boggled the first one and wanted another crack at it...no problem. He was showing his technical expertise on the full rigid!


We got all the way around and I decided I would put a bit of insurance pressure in the front tire, straighten out my saddle bag/spare/CO2's and knock out DF9-1:14. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27631610 I'm still trying to pile on base miles for the Quabbin RR.

Got the HR jacked up to 169 and actually made pre-$10 hill without dabbing. Kinda funny to make that climb (I think its the hardest) even though I did plenty of flopping around on "easier" sections. Fell into the water at the 7.5mm puddle. That's what I get for trying to ride the bridge. Did some other endos...but still made all of the climbs. Go figure?

[air9r]

Two of the most difficult things to do for me sometimes is to take a rest day from cycling and to pedal backwards. The problem is, I want to get better and I want to go faster. Yeah, its easy not to ride with my work schedule and family stuff but if you take too many days off, you don't get better.

Sometimes you have to pedal backwards or lose a derailuer, a chain or even worse...a drop out, derailuer and chain!

I had a good training regime going but did the right thing and took yesterday off. It was cold rain and I had too many other things going on anyway. Today I wanted to ride around the Quabbin on the road bike but the rain wasn't going to make that enjoyable or a proper workout either.

I defaulted to DF10-1:15 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/27832721. Nothing fancy...hard enough to stay upright but not so hard that I killed myself. After two laps Sunday, yesterday's rest day was good recovery but not enough for training real hard today. My average HR was 138 instead of 150+ when I'm trying to beat an hour.

I wiggled around most puddles, and even stopped to put another flat stone in a wet section. It was "The Rooty Bog" about the 3.2 where I keep losing my front wheel and endo-ing. The sad thing was I couldn't really figure out where to put the flat stone to make it more rideable.

The course needs lots of little tinkering. There are a few ribbons missing, the beavers have felled a bunch of trees, lots of branches down. I'm saving those projects closer to race date since I can still ride around and over everything. My first dab was so I didn't run over Puppy, and then I began to lose track after that. I made little mistakes so it became just a workout instead of a stellar run.

Maybe not the perfect workout for my training goals, but a good one considering the weather. Officially...all the snow is now gone.

[air9r]

DF11-1:13. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28190974 The course is drying up and not too bad. Not that soft either. Inching my way down towards a sub-hour. Didn't go all out but maybe I will soon. The trick for me is to get up the first climb in the 10-11 min range...that would shave about 2-3 minutes off today for starters. It does always feel better to finish strong instead of blowing up on the first climb and dragging it it.

[air9r]

Well...the best way to get ready for a 120 mile road race is riding on the road but I just wasn't interested in doing that with all the rain today. May as well DF12-1:27 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28385171 in the slop. I much prefer to train Cross or mtb when it comes to rain. I hate racing on the road in the rain but I actually enjoy it off-road.

I had today off and just felt real tired when I woke up. The plan was to go slow and just complete the lap, not push it. Keep the HR down. Push only when I had to push to stay upright.

The rain was warmer than I thought. The polypro top and rain cape was hot...at least until I was completely soaked, then it turned into a good idea. Not only was I tired but I was feeling a bit stuffy. Another headcold coming?

We had some horses riding yesterday and the hoof prints made the first two hills a little more muddy. I slipped the rear wheel out on the first two bottleneck hills and knew I'd be out there longer than usual.

I think I found the hole in the muddy root bog at the 3.2 and put a flat stone under the water. I keep losing my front wheel in there somewhere and it doesn't look like the water level will be depleting anytime soon. Next, I checked out a dead turkey at the 4.7 that the horse riders reported dumped near Rondeau Road: and a deer carcass that had already been dragged a hundred feet probably by coyotes:

My guess is they were poached elsewhere and dumped for some reason. If it ain't some jerk dumping off a washing machine then its something like that.

Made it the rest of the way without incident. I've been wearing a plain old baseball hat under my helmet in the heavy rain these days. Its not exactly cycling fashion but I like the long brim! In the backround is my jeep. I'll be out on the trail soon with a chainsaw and cleaning litter. I had a little problem with it last winter plowing the ice...but that's another story....

[air9r]

Wow. Its really wet out there. Riding up some of the hills are like riding in a brook. The leaves have been washed away in some sections. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28471862 DF13-1:26...basically the same ride as yesterday.

One good thing I can say is that even with this incredible amount of rain at least I would not have to cancel a race. There are rivers and puddles, but nothing that you ever have to ride over the bottom bracket. Definitely the most water I've ever seen on the course in over 123 laps.

My brother bought me this Cabelas shoe drier for Xmas last year. Its turning out to be one of THE best things I've ever owned!

[air9r]

DF14 1:19 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28676979.

Set a new record for cell phone distractions & other junk on my April Fool's Day ride. It ain't no joke! I can't really complain but not much has been lining up. My home computer has a sofware issue after the last update and I can't get the Internet even though the Comcast modem says its connected. If it didn't happen on March 30th I would possibly concerned that it is a April Fool's Virus. More likely its because its because my Dell is about 15 years old.

Nonetheless...I pulled a leave clog cork out of the 2.2 mm Turtle Crossing brook (now small lake) that had built up a depth of over bottom bracket height. Took a nice cell phone pic but can't upload it here at work since photobucket.com is blocked. I'll try the attachment feature.

Got a ride in...two things accomplished. Puppy liked the exercise. Three things accomplished. Wasn't raining...maybe things aren't so bad afterall!

Checked my records...I'm 9 DF's ahead of 2009....on pace to my goal of 100+ in 2010.

(Note...attachment feature didn't work and causes posting to be lost! Good thing I copy/paste before I post!)

[air9r]

Here's the attachment (pic) of the small lake that was forming before I pulled the leafy cork at the 2.2mm Turtle Crossing.

I haven't been on the loop since April Fool's Day. I haven't really been feeling recovered riding and I'm still trying to put the road miles on for Quabbin. Since I tend to get more fatigued off-road, and I need more road miles anyway I've made good use of this warm weather and the holiday to get 72 of the 120 miles in for preparation: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29123279 Anyway you look at it, 120 miles with hills is a long day of racing, I'm older and not putting in the miles I need to survive at a minimum. Still, I have 19 more days to prepare. I forced myself to go easy yesterday, and by Divine Intervention, I flatted today at 13 miles (46 minutes) so it really helped with the recovery today.

I expect to ride DF15 Saturday because my dog is counting on me to check out the course! Sunday is a choice between DF16/17 or perhaps another Quabbin Loop for better prep. I'll decide after Saturday!