First off..I have to say..I LOVE MY WIFE. This being "mother's day" and us having two kids, getting out for a ride today should be....."sketchy" to say the least, however, Jac could sense the urgency in my not too subtle edginess of not riding since Wednesday. I helped out with folding clothes, put a load in the drier, played with the kids a bit and then it happened..."John, why don't you go for a ride now....so then later....we can do something".....Ohhhhhmmmmmmmm! Sweet MAMA!!
Firstly, weather was bleak and freakin cold. The idea of peddling into that cold wind without a camel back (bladders in both were moldy and needed to be replaced) and my jersey pockets full of water bottles and fuel for an anticipate 3-4 hour ride was not too motivating.....A brilliant moment occured...Load the bike on the roof and drive to the trail..bring tools, fuel and all needed so that I could replenish whilst keeping my back light in the dreary cold weather.
I think the one thing I love more than my bike is putting my bike on the roof of our "Family Car"....I love that thing.. Off to the trails I go. I soon figured out why it's hard to get more than a 2 hour ride in after my second loop and the third reverse loop...nice trails but just not quite long enough for EPIC rides..
Bike was feeling good an music was pumpin' and then it happened...after the first real feature , a brigdge that drops off of a 3 foot rock there is a tight right hander of a turn but my left bar decided to catch the tree and without having a chance to take my hands off of the bars or feet out of clips, down hard on the right shoulder. Enough of a wallop for me to lay there for a second and do the traditional body scan for some indicating that my body may not be happy with me...all was good. This tree kept trying to eat me after the second loop but didn't succeed. Loop two done and out of Heed (perpetuum in bottle on bike mixed for a three hour ride). I made my way back to the car to "stock up". I also decided to take the headphones off and do a quick scan of the bike...hmmm is that "play" I feel?? Luckily I brought my tool kit and finally found the culprit..a bushing/bearing in the lower attachment of the rear shock...super loose. Tightened it up and off for a final loop. All in all a pretty good ride here's the stats:
1 hr:58 min
83% avg; 96% max
In zone - 1:16; Above - 40 min; below 1 min
1444 Kcal
24.9 Km.....this is pure single track riding...pretty technical, windy terrain..
Avg spd 12.7 km/hr
Max 36.7 km/hr
I got home feeling adequately fatigued, given this was my first true two solid hours of pure single track which didn't include a commute to/from trails on road, but my head wasn't happy with the duration..Kids were sleeping and wife looked pretty content so I jumped on the opportunity to head downstairs to hop on the road bike to continue with another hour to get the number of hours my head would be satisfied less than one week before the 8 hour event. And it happened:
1 hour
75% avg; 92% max
In zone - 53 min; above 6 min
626 Kcal
Avg CAD - 81; Max 102
Now, I feel psychologically ready for this 8 hour and am convinced that I have the physiological base to have some fun with the event.
Plan-Rest Monday, Ride Tuesday, Wednesday a no go as wife is now taking night course on Thursday, clean up the bike (this will be the first real wash as my new philosophy is not to spray the bike unnecessarily to save bearing life) and pack up Friday a.m. (took day off of work) and head out to the ole Holiday Inn Express just South of Barrie...I can now say....I'm ready!
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