Whatever It Takes

Last week was positive. There was lots of high effort work which seems to be doing me some good. It is enjoyable to put the hammer down and have your body respond properly. Despite feeling good I have taken some preventive measures and gone to the acupuncturist. Years ago I lost a wrestling match with an eighty pound Halibut at work. The result was a muscle spasm in my back. That episode happened several weeks before the 24 hour solo world championships in Whistler. I was understandably nervous about the back injury popping up again in the middle of the race. I had a couple of trips to the pin pushers and I was good as new.
I have had recent days when the old injury gets aggravated by long days with a heavy backpack, so I knew I had to do something. I have an obligation to do whatever I can to ensure success with this GDR venture. I only want to do this event once and falling short of finishing because of some shortsightedness during the preparations would sit poorly with me for a long time. I recognize that there are quite a few people that are being inconvenienced by this selfish little excursion of mine. I am lucky that my family and the people I work with have been supportive. Out of respect for their sacrifices I cannot short change this final push of preparations.
Beside the acupuncture, this week I have made it through another map's worth of directions transcription and I have been rehearsing my packing and unpacking routine. A heavy rain storm blew through the night before last so I spent the night sleeping in my bivy. This was my first chance to check waterproofness and potential condensation issue. I was quite comfortable and slept in. Nothing beats sleeping to the sound of rain falling on a tent.

April Showers

After my week off my body felt good. I spent the day exploring dirt roads that will be part of the MIdnight Century Route. If someone wants to know what's in store come July 26, they should go ride Elder Road from Valley Chapel to Freeman. Of course the route is going the other way but you will get the point.
Having made the early comment about the lack of pain and discomfort, I spent the whole of my ride trying to adjust my backpack to relieve some soreness I have been experiencing in my back and shoulders. I have been increasing the amount of weight I am carrying and now it seems I have broken this camel's back. I also switched from my winter cycling boots to my summer shoes. My knees are a little crunchy after the ride and I wondering if it is because I need to adjust the seat height to accommodate the differences between the shoes. I need to also look at the cleat angles.
The ride itself was good. I was pelted with hail, rain and high winds during the last 3 hours but it seems the snow is finally behind us. Overnight temperatures have risen to 30 degrees so it is time to start doing some overnighters.

In Like A Lion, Out Like A Lion

Ben running across a snowy section of the CDA National Forest at 4000' in April 2007. Most areas were clear but northern slopes had 24-36 inches at the time.

I am enjoying my week off. Rarely does my timing work out so well. More snow and more cold weather has come to ruin Spring's coming out party. The thing is that the snow storm that dumped big on us Friday was not heavy, wet spring snow but cold and dry powder. I took advantage of the conditions and skied until the legs wouldn't hold me anymore. I then did the snowshoe loop again. The super deep powder made for a ruthless workout.
For all the fun I was having I have been thinking about the snow levels in regard to the GDR. Matt Lee just mentioned it on the TD blog. He must be getting emails from worried riders but has assured people that this appears to be an average year and in the past the route was clear of snow for the most part. The snow can melt down awfully quick but it is hard to imagine ridable terrain in the mountains when today I am looking at Big Mountain Resort in Whitefish and it's reported 11.58 FEET (139 inches) of snow at it's 7000 foot summit. My backyard ski area has 131 inches at it's 4200 feet base. I won't be riding those trails until July.
I haven't done the math on how many days left (nor do I care to) but I realize time is short. I see that some people logged twice as many miles in March as I did but I think that I had a nearly perfect month of riding. April needs to be more disciplined in the area of preparations. Typing route guides, getting my camping gear sorted out, etc. I expected to be doing some overnighters but 20 degree temperatures and occasional snowfalls in the valleys have pushed that down the line.

Training Explosion

Step One: Altitude and Snow

Step Two: Make A Hard Day Harder

This week should be an off week. I relieve myself of forced riding quotas every fourth week to remind myself that I do still ride a bike because I enjoy it. Next week my wife and daughter are relieved of their requirements to go to work and school so it made more sense to have my mini bike vacation then. Though this week is the last full week of March I have started my April training early. It looks to be a good start to the month.
It started with a high aerobic output snowshoe session. This wasn't a lovely stroll through the woods rather a sweat dripping from my brow, veins popping from my calves and quads deep powder stomping session. I threw in a back country nordic ski outing just for good measure.
With my calves knotted up real good and my quads basically emptied of all glycogen, I spent today wondering the hilly dirt roads in the south county area. Before the eight hour day was over I was surprised with how good I felt so I detoured a little bit and did some actual single track. I had heard that the trails have firmed up at Beacon so I took a look. It is hard to believe that they are in such good shape considering that last friday there was a four hour snow storm down here at lower elevation. It has been since last fall since I did any real mountain biking and I think that I am more than ready to start throwing in some dirty ol' biking fun.

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.