Team Ride and Blog Sabbatical

The Team ride last night was...interesting. At the start, rain was pouring down. At least one rider called it quits within five minutes of the start. I was part of the "30 Minutes Out, 30 Minutes Back" faction. In the end, we stayed out for a full two hours. The rain eventually abated a bit, so the last hour wasn't too bad.

The 'pace line' was a bit tighter this week. The slower pace and smaller crowd helped, I think.

After the ride, we celebrated Nate's birthday with pizza, beer and ice cream. Is this the best team ever, or what?!?

This will be my last post for a few weeks. I will be on a non-cycling vacation with my wife, and I don't expect to have Internet access for most of the trip. Look for the next post around June 5 or June 6.

Team Ride

Did the team ride on Tuesday. Another large group that included Nate, Dan, Scott, Shawn, JoeFro, Jason, Ralph, Dan J. and myself. The pace was quick, but not yet blistering. We rode a bit over 50 miles, with some good climbs. People are still getting used to riding in a paceline, and this ride is not the easiest place to learn that skill.

I expect the speeds will increase in the coming weeks.

No race this weekend; I just want to ride some miles.

A couple racing pictures...

No, I am not sleeping in the first picture. Pictures were lifted from here.

How about that XC racing?

Yeah, not all that much fun. It turns out that the first lap is pretty darn hard. The other two laps were hard, but not as bad.

I ended up 12th out of 26 in the Expert (geared) class in my age group. Not quite what I hoped for, but not as bad as it could have been. I either need to get stronger and push a taller gear or consign myself to a smaller gear and learn how to spiiiiinnnn like a madman. Or I guess I could race the singlespeed class.

Nah. :)

Tastes Like Chicken

Did the ski hill yesterday. I had a bit too much gear, but I was still able to get a few laps in and climb the main hill. Went over to the game area tonight and busted out a few fast laps. I think the gear I have on there will get the job done down at Custer on Sunday.

I will be down to the fort tomorrow for a pre-ride. Sunday will be head down, legs pumping in the expert class. I guess there will be some beer afterward? That is the rumor...

Skinny Tires and Expert Races

The team did its first road bike ride yesterday. A large crowd showed up; someone was heard to remark that it was like "an all-Founder's Critical Mass". I think we had 10 or 11 people. The pace was not as ugly as it can be; Dan, Nate and Scott were all holding back for one reason or another. I think it will only get faster from here on out. Still, it was 50 miles and good time in Nate's garage when it was over.

I spun easy on the ss today. I plan to drop a couple teeth in the back and ride the ski hill tomorrow. Paid my money to race the expert class this weekend at Custer on the ss, so I need to get a few hard efforts in my legs with the bigger gear. I don't know; will 36x16 be enough to hang with the experts at the fort?