The Big Ride, Saturday Edition of Fools Gold Training

See the fake smiles? Nobody wants to be making cross face this early in the season, but this was a tough day. The air-rogue, mr wine, billy and I took off on the mtn bikes for a rough day of riding. I knew it when I said yes, but I had some hope that it really wouldnt hurt that much. It did. we left from the usual coffee stop in the Highlands armed with hardtail 29ers, food, water and (at least for me) dread for what was coming. 4 hours of roads and trails. 60 miles and 3500 ft of climbing. We went past jmf, past waverly and were only halfway there. The knobbies sounded like an army of vuveselas as they rumbled along the pavement. It was so loud that the dogs that usually chase us looked on in confusion.

Why go through this? After suffering thru the heat this past week as I tried to get ready for the test that Fools Gold surely will be, I needed long miles and hours in the saddle getting usued to the superfly, acclimating to the big wheels and some confidence about being in the saddle that long.

Jeff and Billy have some ridiculously hard endurance rides. The trip from the highlands out to and around Waverly is stage one. This is stage two, further and harder. Big hills both directions and technical climbing when we got to the single track. It was so tough that even after a decent nap, I was zombified that night. We went to a party and I think I answered every question with "they sure will". Im fairly certain that it didnt make sense in any conversation. It was all I had except for my other gem "oh, yeah those are great". Those what? I've no idea. I do love that totally wrecked and tired feeling, but its hard to be socially acceptable amongst "normal" people who dont really ride when you're in that sorry kind of shape.

I slept like the dead that night and got another 3 hours on the trails/rds the next morning, even getting to ride with Seiler-a rare treat during the daytime. I was glad to have someone to handle the color commentary when I flipped over the bike into the dense brush in Cherokee park. I was able to follow the calls of "feed me seymour" back out to the light from the jungle in which I'd landed. As drjohnmd says, "the overbrush is heavy"...to say the least.

So is this helping me to get ready for the race? We'll know come raceday. If the heat cranks back up to oblivion where its been, Im completely screwed. I know that the drop in humidity was like an energy charge that got me through both rides. As far as gear goes, I think Im set with the exception of switching rear tires. The small block 8 is a great tire for a better rider than I am, but the Karma is most likely going to find itself in the unenviable position of being under my bum. The equipment I have far exceeds the talent that I can bring to it, but that wouldnt change with a Kmart bike.

This should be my last week of hard riding so we'll see what happens.