On Thursday I told you about my April outings at New Fane. Today I hit the mountain bike trails for the first time in May, driven there by very high winds that made the prospect of a road ride unattractive. And because it was Plan B, I arrived at New Fane alone and with no expectations. But for some reason I was way better today than I was on my previous visits this year. I turned in laps of 26:29, 26:31 and 27:37, all of which were faster than the 8 laps I completed last month.
Was it the temperature? We got close to 80 degrees this afternoon and I was able to ride in summer gear. That helped, but I don’t think it’s the whole story. I do know that posting a good time on my first lap inspired me to keep pushing on the next two. But I think the big change today was my vision. Most of my New Fane rides fall late in the day. Today I started at 3:30 when the sun was bright and high in the sky. I didn’t have any long shadows to decipher; the whole trail stood out clearly.
My all-time fastest lap at New Fane is 25:16, set last year on September 8. If I could ride at that level for 3 hours I would be a Top 5 contender instead of a Top 10 contender in the WEMS race this fall. But I won’t reach that level without hard work. Let’s see if I can consistently deliver sub-26:30 laps by the end of this month, then go sub-26:00 in June or July.
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