Spring has been cool and wet overall, and that’s not unusual around here. This weekend was uncommonly warm and mostly dry, but the winds were very high. It would have been a frustrating time to be on the road bike. Fortunately, I got to hide from the winds at New Fane, whose mountain bike trails opened for the season on Friday. Greenbush is now available too, and I plan to visit it several times before the WEMS Championship there on October 7. This weekend, though, was all about New Fane.
New Fane is important not just because of its proximity, but also because it is the site of the Northern Kettles Fall Epic on September 9. I have done well in that race historically and I intend to do well again this year. A big key to my success there is familiarity. The more practice laps, the better. I did 2 laps yesterday—my first visit to New Fane since last year’s Northern Kettles Fall Epic—and I did 2 more laps today. And they weren’t great. I was slow because I’m out of shape. I was hesitant because prior to this weekend I had only 1 hour on singletrack this year: last Sunday’s trip to Glacial Blue Hills. About all I can say is that today’s laps were faster than yesterday’s laps. It’s a start.
There’s a lot of work to do. Nevertheless, I’m confident that I will get back to where I want to be … in time to give a good account of myself this fall. Whether I will be in anything like race shape by May 6—the date of the WORS season opener—is a more pressing concern. It’s back to the road tomorrow for some fat-burning, endurance-building miles, and then maybe it’s back to the turbo trainer if rain returns on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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