What's Missing?

It occurred to me today that while spending my morning ride accessing the State Of My Fitness that there were things missing. Missing are the slight knee pain that I never let concern me, the tired back and shoulders that can develop during consecutive long days early in the season and the hand and wrist discomfort that forces me to adjust my hand positions constantly. The only conclusion that I can draw is that the fit of my new bike is so spot on that things I assumed were just part of being almost 40 years old and spending hour after hour on a bike are no longer there. Kudos to Independent Fabrications for building me a better bike than I was expecting but damn them for ruining me on stock, off-the-rack frames. Custom geometry is worth it.
The only hitch I have encountered is that in order to make the fickle Koobi saddle work with my geometry, I had to switch to a set back seatpost, but the proof is in the joints, and as a single speeder I have to watch out for my knees especially.

Training Blues

Runoff on Latah Creek Along Valley-Chapel Road.

The weather is improving somewhat. The roads were clear yesterday but it snowed, rained and snowed again while the wind blowed between 20 and 30 mph, but I got my time in.
My training program is simple. Every month I ride more hours per week than the last month. The details and nuances beyond that are few. My long day is Monday and that begins my week. I try and accomplish up to half of my weekly riding on that day. The incentive is to front load the week with rides so that I earn more rest toward the end. If I fail at this I have Friday to make it up; that day I go to work later so I can ride four or five hours (not what I want to do before a tough Friday night at work in the kitchen). This is not a good training program from a scientific point of view but it is the only one I am willing to commit to. Basically, I would rather ride than train.
I suspect that I will be writing about my preparations less. I was eager to unload my thoughts when there seemed to be more thinking than doing. I have also begun to tire of talking about the race. I am known to be extremely talkative but there is not much new to say and the repetitiveness of explaining to people the event and my involvement is not benefiting me at all.
As much as i am worried about the fast approach of the start date, I really do want to get this thing under way. The getting ready isn't interesting anymore. The same old low elevation country roads don't inspire me. The compromises in my schedule between family, work and riding continue to get more difficult and snow still covers all of the trails even down in the valleys.

Winter Cycling In Perspective

In my burg, December had a record number of days of snow and January has a record amount of snow fall. Mixed in there somewhere was at least one day with a record low temperature. Everyday the local news is gleeful with hyperbole about the mess the weather has caused. The mountain passes are closed more than they are open, all of the county roads (yes, ever single road one) south of my general vicinity were closed for the las week because plows were unable to keep the roads open with the 40 mph winds causing 14 foot drifts.
Despite the fact that these conditions have not made for the best winter of training, I cannot feel bad for myself. The challenges I face are small in comparison to what Mike Curiak is preparing to take on. With a whole heap of custom gear including a bike that stores stove fuel in the frame tubes, Mike is heading out to cover the 1100 mile Iditarod trail from Anchorage to Nome without any support. He is carrying 140 pounds of gear, including all the food he will need for the trip. As the record holder for the course he knows about the difficulty of the route but not resupplying and not using the warming huts along the way takes this attempt to an unheard of level.
During my six hour training ride today I will be thinking of Mike's adventure and hopefully it will help me keep my own challenges in perspective.

Snow Day

After a week of single digit temperatures, the warm moist air from the South Pacific moved into town. The 13.7 inches of snow that fell in the last 24 hours broke the single day record snowfall that has stood since 1950. And as Matt Chester points out, this aint the champagne powder of Utah and Colorado. For most of the day it was 31-33 degrees while it was snowing. This is the heavy snow that makes driving near impossible and biking just a bad idea.
This morning is a true snow day. The storm has passed, the blue sky is more than blue and all of the schools have closed. The temperature has dropped back down to 9 degrees.
Yesterday, I got a workout downhill skiing through 24+fresh inches at the local hill. Today I will bike get some biking in simply for the fact that I am out of coffee, but for the most part training is not in the cards. This is when I start wondering about my preparations. I always go through this.
I feel slow. I feel heavy. I lament the distractions. Everyone is riding more than me. I am procrastinating the work I need to do. I am not stretching. Time is ticking. Deadlines are coming. I won't be ready. And yet I find a way to do what I want to do.
I fall back to my mantras:
Don't train, practice- Kent Peterson
You can't train for a 1000 mile run, you can only rest- Yiannis Kouros
I am Buddha, not a Buick- Tom Robbins
Meditate when you can't perspirate- David Blaine

The Chili Ride

I am going to be riding up to the Kettle Falls area in February otherwise I would be participating in the chili ride. I like chili and I like the Fat Tire Trail Riders Club (they're the people doing all the trail improvements all over town). Not to mention Riverside State Park is my back yard so it is always good to represent.

Event Alert: Village Bike Project

Terry from Doma sent over this information about a great event they are having at North Idaho College. I have been hearing a lot about the Village Bicycle Project. John Speare from CyclingSpokane and Jon Fish from Mountain Gear have been putting a lot of work into this idea.


You are invited to a documentary film showing by Eric Matties and Tricia

Todd called "Ayamye". The film is about a grassroots project founded by

Moscow Idaho resident, David Peckham, called the Village Bicycle Project.

The project works to address the critical lack of basic reliable, affordable

transport for millions of Africans by transporting donated used bicycles,

teaching bicycle maintenance, and by providing tools for bicycle repairs in

African Villages.

The film will be showing at NIC's Meyer Health and Science Building Room #106 in

Coeur d'Alene on Thursday, January 17th at 7:00PM.



DOMA is supporting the efforts of the Village Bicycle Project because we

feel that bicycles are an important solution to economic stability,

pollution, energy crisis, and climate change.



Help us spread the word about this incredible film screening by forwarding

this invite to your friends and family. For any questions, contact us at

208-667-1267

First Ride Of 2008

New Years Day was sunny which around here in the winter means it was cold, real cold. Some of that Arctic air was blowing down which meant that the wind was blowing the wrong direction (of course the wrong direction on a bike is straight in your face). I had three people show up to ride with me but the brutal temps had them all making left turns when I was going right. An hour into the ride I was struggling along the drift covered Valley-Chapel road listening to the hum of the road signs as the shimmy back and forth in the wind. It took 3 hours to get to Rockford and I was rewarded with breakfast at the Harvest Moon. Things got better as I took back roads along Mica Peaks Western flank to the Saltese Flats.
I spent a lot of time thinking about potential routes connecting the many unpaved country roads in Palouse Country. 70 miles later I was pretty drained and called it a day. The best news from the ride was that my recent boo-boo from skiing did not bother me much. A good start to the year.