Climbing Out of the Hole

The flu has kept me from exercising for 4 days now and hopefully I can do something easy tomorrow. In tracking training stress (TSS), or in my case "riding stress" (RSS), I was at a manageable 56 RSS points before the flu. Now I am down to 50. Judging by my software and the time I'll have to ride in March, it will take me most of the month to get back what 4 days took away. If I were training I could probably get it back in 2-3 weeks.

Once I feel back to normal I can do some harder rides but I have to be ready to get dropped since I have been going down while others have been going up. My next event I want to try in another MTB TT in Roswell in late March so hopefully I can do a good job there.

At this point being able to get out and do something would be nice.

I am just glad it is not 1918.

It was my turn in the barrel. Wife sick, kid sick, then me sick. Nasty chest stuff and slight fever. Seems like everyone's got something this year. I'd love to sit on the couch and watch TV tomorrow--slight chance.

I have been trying to get out and ride and so far I am managing 1-2 single-speed rides per week and a few road rides. Fitness it maintaining and I managed to dodge some illnesses along the way.

I went tubeless on my MTB investing in the Bontrager system with Stan's sealant. I think I will use that for my Tufos in the fall. They are really nice so far.

Cyclocross Magazine is featuring nationals and the crash photo in the snow from Larry Rosa. It is a good photo no matter who is in the middle. I wish I had been more to the outside left!

February has been challenging and I hope that I can keep it going into March. No big spring break plans this year so I am going to see if I can go up to Tsali for the race.

I am also considering MTB nationals for the SS division in July.

Snake Creek Gap TT

I was told that this TT would be "epic" but I did not do the 34 mile so I would say the 17 mile TT was "very challenging" to say the least. The most difficult part was the large rock/boulder garden on the ridge with about 6 to go. Up until then I would have said it was manageable on the single-speed but then when you throw in the crazy rocks, it becomes Hors Categorie. From what folks tell me, the second 17 is the harder of the two.

I was using my Klein Pinnacle that was converted a few years ago into a single speed. I decided to use a 34x20 and that was a good idea. There were plenty of places in the race where even a geared bike would have trouble climbing the steep grades, so I had to push a lot on the second half.

I had a mechanical about 50 yards from the start where my rear axle slipped out of the dropout but then as I climbed the first hill I got warm and eventually found some kind of rhythm. The fire road and creek crossings were very nice, and I have to say that riding weekly at Big Creek MTB trails prepared me for a lot of the rocks.

I felt like I had lost a lot of time at the start but ended up passing every one in front of me except one racer who came in about 2-5 minutes ahead at the finish. Once alone it was easier to get rolling and establish a pace.

The descent back to the start/finish was great--about 50 mph downhill on pavement really paid you back for the leg-busting ridge.

I was thrilled to post a good time and take first place. I am not sure if I'll do the March 2nd finale but it is tempting to try and break 2 hours. I know now what to do after riding the course once and it would be very fun to try.

(picture: mtbepic61)