Sunday, November 15, 2009

Graveling

Jake gets all bottle-caged up.

So with another week passing in between outdoor rides, I finally got out today and took my cyclocross bike on a test run for the Gravel Grovel. I'm still debating on the 'cross bike vs. mountain bike choice, so I wanted to test out the severity of the 'cross bike cons of not having enough gearing to get up the tough gravel hills and providing a rough ride over the gravel. The gearing thing turned out not to be an issue unless we get a lot of rain the next 12 days. I'm used to riding gravel roads in the spring and having tire-sucking mud with which to contend. However, thanks to the unseasonably nice weather, I found the big hill on Gross Rd. to be relatively smooth and hard-packed. It still hurt to climb on my 'cross bike, but it was doable. The rough ride sucked, but considering how many people ride gravel roads on 'cross bikes with no complaints, that part may just require a bit of HTFU on my part. The 'cross bike pros are about 8 less pounds of bike with a lot less bobbing around on the smoother parts, and the ability to carry more fluids since it is a self-supported race and I need to carry about 6 hours worth of food and water with me.

I'm not really sure how this thing will go since when I told my coach that this race wasn't that important, I think we were thinking different things. I was thinking that I was burned out on hard training going into Pisgah, and I wasn't concerned about being in top condition. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was looking forward to one last chance to experiment with a few hours in the pain cave (okay, mild discomfort cave) and produce a good-for-me effort in the closest approximation to my prefered race type that Indiana has to offer.

However, the off-season strength training program is going to make things more difficult than planned. My legs are sore and slow, and I didn't feel good on today's ride. I know that getting the complete shut-down and reboot phase over now will be good for my next season, because I will have so much extra time to be in good form then, but it's kind of making me worried about my ability to get through any ride over 20 miles right now.

2 comments:

Mary Sunshine said...

Hi Lindsay!

So sorry to have been out of touch...jazzed about being a Bella soon. Do you know if they will put in a jersey order soon?

Mary

Lindsay Hall-Stec said...

Hi Mary,

There was actually a clothing order in September, but the orders won't be here until December. Generally, they order a bunch of extra SS jerseys, so you can probably buy one in December, but I'm not sure you'll be able to get shorts or other stuff. Of course, there are always plenty of people who get their stuff and realize that it doesn't fit or they no longer want it, so check the classifieds on the bulletin board right when the order comes in. I'll let you know when my stuff comes to give you a heads up.
There is supposed to be another order some time in early 2010, but I don't know when.

Anyway, I'm super excited that you and your friends decided to join the team. I might have to make a special trip to Cincinnati to race with my new teammates next season.

Lindsay