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Today March 2017

bloaker

Sincerely A Dick
Nov 14, 2011
3,643
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Today I went with "Steel is Real" and took out my trusty old steel hardtail.
2 days ago, a carbon bike threw me down hard bruising up my hip.
Yesterday a Ti bike chucked me down a rocky section of trail cutting up my knee, shoulder and misc bruises.
After that crash, I went back out on a steel SS mtb and rode the same trail the carbon bike threw me down on without incident.

Today, I rode down the same trail the ti bike threw me down - without incident.

Steel is forgiving. - Either that or my bikes gave up hurting me for Lent.

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Finally back up to fighting strength (255W FTP) after two months in the gym on high cadence Threshold Booster drills three times a week. First session today of low cadence drills (after warm up, 60 rpm at just below FTP for ten minutes at a time, recovery 90rpm spin for 5 mins then repeat 10min, etc. for a total of 90mins inc. warm down). Found working at 60 rpm significantly harder than 70 rpm, which I tried for one of the 10min sections.

@Half-Fast Mike was in London this week so I caught up with him for a beer and food on Monday. Great to see him again.:tup

In other news, my shipped crate of belongings turned up yesterday from Japan (after 2 months). So I finally have a road bike I can take out into the :merde: weather here (UK) this weekend...:D
 
Get used to those low cadence numbers off road.
Biggest mental switch for me is knowing when to spin and when to mash.
The more fun the trail, the less spinning there will be...
 
Yesterday was my first time getting lost in a long time. I am usually pretty good about picking up trails in the correct direction, but everything was going wrong and anything I could pick up on the GPS wanted to send us the wrong way. Luckily before the group headed out, I threw out the caveat that I didn't know the way we were going by heart.

In desperation, we cut through the back of Kanazawa Zoo and got back on track. Of course the guards at the front gate weren't stoked when they saw us leaving, but we just smiled and nodded knowing we wouldn't be back that way again.. probably ever again.

BUT today's ride makes everything worth it.
The ride started with me on my single speed and my daughter on her strider. She picked up too much speed, panicked and went down. I had already jumped off my bike to try and catch her but I was too late. She looked at me stunned and I said something encouraging and excited like "Kick ass" or something. She smiled, wiped her hands off on my shorts, then said she wanted to ride in the park. So we did circles for a bit and headed home. She then wanted to go out on the mama-chari. So we did...

And got ICE-CREAM!!!!
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This little girl is gonna kick my ass riding one day.
 
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So today was a fun ride. I headed out with no intent to do anything dumb and just come home in one piece. I accomplished the second goal perfectly! However the failure of the first had me grinning ear to ear.

The rain has taken its toll as well as the temps lately. Lots of damage. Fallen rocks and trees made for creative line choices and fun challenges. Luckily, sometimes I pick a line and commit before I can think about it and screw up!

When I rode through here 2 weeks ago, only one tree was down.

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I got out for a 1 hour loop today.
I was reluctant to go out because I didn't want to put on the gear.
I then realized, it will just be an easy short ride, so what I was wearing would be fine, just add a jacket, gloves and helmet...

And this is where I almost think I should be writing a "tips and tricks" post vs a "Today" post.
My decision ended up being a great reminder of simple rules one should think about before cycling, but especially off road.

Boxers, Loose Shorts and rough trails.... well your clearance isn't quite the same as a proper kit.
It wasn't particularly cold, so the boys were hanging comfortably low.
While I have no doubts I can still have children, I probably won't ride without at least proper short again for a few months.

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Some slopes and more gravel than usual today. Got in 30 minutes ago. A few moonlit miles on the coast path before the inland turn for home. Plum index very low today, although the two monkeys I let on to headed for the trees.
 
It looks like a lot of fun out there. How long does it take you to get to a trail like this?
 
It looks like a lot of fun out there. How long does it take you to get to a trail like this?
The closest trail head to my house is 1km. So super quick to get to one. It also happens to be my favorite trail in the area so even better. But sadly it is the trail most affected by rain. Today i did an 8km look with 200m of climbing. From the time i left until i returned was one hour.
 
The closest trail head to my house is 1km. So super quick to get to one. It also happens to be my favorite trail in the area so even better. But sadly it is the trail most affected by rain. Today i did an 8km look with 200m of climbing. From the time i left until i returned was one hour.

Perfect!

I'm kind of bummed having to spend about 1.5 hours one-way getting out of the gray cityscape and up into the mountains. Makes for a long ride with only 50-60% devoted to good riding vs. dodging cars. Zwift lets me get a good workout, but indoor training is indoor training. Might just have to do some investigating about trail riding in my area.
 
If you ever want to check out the Zushi area, let me know. Weekends we try to start early to beat the hiker crowd. During the week I ride after 1pm.... the whole work think kills my mornings.
 
Saturday - Did a 30+ km loop with a few other riders, then it was out for drinks that night with whoever wanted to show up.

This morning it was a tad chilly, but still managed to get up. 3km into the ride, I sat on a cliff and drink a thermos of coffee.

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Soon after, I met up with another rider and we spent some time just goofing off. Found some new etchings along a side trail.

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Not too bad a day after a night out.
 
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