And they're off! Thanks to Michele Norman (wife of John Norman, racer #4021) for the picture. |
Today I went back to the Thursday evening group ride for the first time in a couple of weeks and finished with 37 miles at almost a 20 mph average. The wind was howling out of the south, so the group of five worked together to set a strong pace down to the covered bridge near Cedarburg. I didn’t start particularly well—I usually don’t—but I hung in there and my legs came around. We didn’t follow the Covered Bridge Ride route with which so many local riders are familiar, and when a couple of the Team Extreme boys decided to go harder I was one of the three who couldn’t match their pace. I tried, and for several miles I dangled in No Man’s Land, but eventually I sat up and finished the ride with the grupetto.
Tomorrow I plan to ride the 29er at New Fane. I don’t think there’s such a thing as too much practice on singletrack, at least not for a novice mountain bike racer. The weekend likely will be a time for long endurance rides … except for Memorial Day itself. On Monday morning I plan to compete in an unsanctioned time trial, a good opportunity to put even more intensity into my training. It also will be a good opportunity to compare my current fitness level to last year’s, as the TT will run on the same course that I raced last July. The 19.3-mile course should take me nearly an hour to complete. So, in terms of duration and intensity, the TT should be a good tune-up for my 12-mile WORS race at Wausau on June 3.
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