hello again. I hope you all are well. it has been a while, for sure! well here is what's up:
I got my driver's license and stopped commuting daily. this happend right after the last post before that little 1200k. which, went pretty good, finishing in 75 hrs with Jerry & Ian after a splendid overnight ride in the mountains!
I took some time off the bike. I was a bit burned out after living on them for 7 years. I got into bass guitar, which has been a long time love of mine. Of course that became another 'gear habit' I didn't need but, oh never mind..
It took no time at all for the fitness to fade-by winter I was up about 15 lbs. In january 2013 I rode a 300k. ugh. my endurance was 'ok', but speed and power were gone. it was a bit of a downer. when I showed up in the spring for the local series I was convinced I would ride back into form by the 600. not. even. close. I suffered thru all the rides, with the 400 taking nearly 5hrs more than the 2 previous years. I was not a happy camper, to say the least. One of my best buds, Tim, said I was "spending too much time playing in the dirt." He was referring to my renewed interest in mountainbiking. He was probably right..The rest of the year was a slog too. I did take some bass lessons, and saw some killer concerts. Music was good! I also sold some bikes and parts. They grew back..
I decided in 2014 I was going to turn it around. s l o w l y. I took a shot at an R finally and made sure to get a 200k in every month. with a car this is easier to accomplish. when spring came I was riding. often. still not commuting much though..from the series start 'til june I went every weekend for 13 straight weeks. results were coming gradually. july 4th was a hot as hell 300k out of salisbury,nc. spent most of it with Tim and we had fun but weren't fast. oh well. I had a weird drivetrain prob that took some time to figure out and missed the next couple longer rides. My redeaming ride of the year was the 'picnic ride' (200k) in August. I took my Bianchi Pista fixed gear and solo'd the course in 7:39. I probably spent the 39 min. off the bike and could have really done it close to 7hrs..I felt good about that day. I did keep the streak alive and got my first R in january!
This year has been an even better ride. I saw a post by a friend saying they were putting together a 1200k in Florida. since I am not going to France, this sounded cool. I signed up the minute it opened up. I needed a big goal. A target. Let's train.
I rode one of Tony's 300k's in january. It was cold, and slow. I did another in February, and it was cold and slow too. the rest of Feb was a loss, it was just miserable weather this year. Things picked up in march and I managed a couple more perms. April was the big ramp up-100k, 200k, then a 300k in va, and a rainy 300k here. A week later on may 2 we returned to Va for a 400k. it went well, I rode the whole thing with Lynn, and other than finding out the rain had killed my garmin (i'll do separate post on that) it was a smooth ride. we love those roads up there! ya gotta go! after that, it was 9 days to Florida..
whew, that report is next, stay tuned...
