Another win for HTC Highroad, but that's not Mark Cavendish. |
I was not disappointed: New Fane proved to be much more to my liking than Glacial Blue Hills. I immediately understood what my more experienced mountain biking friends describe as “flow.” Glacial Blue Hills has defied all of my attempts to find a rhythm, but Loops 1 and 2 at New Fane became faster and easier as I repeated them. (I took just one tour of Loops 3 and 4 today.) Overall I rode pretty clean. There was one steep hill on which I lost all momentum and foolishly tried to get out of the saddle. My rear tire broke loose and I was done. And there was a right turn at the end of a fast descent that I nearly overcooked. Fortunately a nearby tree worked in tandem with my left shoulder to put me back on course. Have I mentioned that I’m really, really inexperienced as a mountain biker? I’m not looking for results this year; I’m looking for skill development in a competitive environment.
So, I’ve reached the end of my 12-week training plan. My fitness is OK but not outstanding. I still need the weather to warm up before I will hit my stride. Stump Farm is not a super-technical course, but I will continue to work on bike handling skills during the next two weeks. I do need to add fitness, though, and I won’t completely abandon the road bike in the meantime. I’m game for a Thursday evening road ride if there’s still a demand for it in West Bend.
Today began with a live webcast of the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt. I know maybe 100 words of German but that didn’t matter. The video quality was excellent and the race came down to a huge bunch sprint. Today will end with Versus’ same-day broadcast of the final stage of the Tour de Romandie. We’re getting into that sweet time of the year when there’s always something going on.
Good read Dave. I rode the CX bike at Crystal Ridge yesterday on the mtb trails. Only a little bit of hike a bike each lap for no more than 20 seconds, so quite similar to a CX race! But we should definately hit some mtb trails together this summer.
ReplyDeleteI would like that very much, Patrick. This is my first year with a state parks vehicle sticker and only my second year with a state trails pass, so I feel like I can go anywhere now. Heck, I'll even have some county parks passes if I do all of the mountain bike events I have my eye on. Mountain biking is a great training choice for you as you build toward the 'cross season. I might try a 'cross race this year if the dates line up right for Grafton or the rumored new race in Kewaskum.
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