Got 'em Dirty

It was Friday morning when I started this entry about my inaugural ride on my new bike, but it turned out to be a very busy day at work and then I spent the weekend in a achy, gross, sore-throaty funk. Basically, last week was a recovery week and since my Thursday assignment was 45 minutes easy riding, my urge to ride my new bike overcame my fear of getting it dirty.

I know, it's a mountain bike and it's supposed to get dirty. Something about the pristine natural dirt that flies up from singletrack riding seems less corrosive that the salty, scummy film that results from riding on pavement in the winter time or riding on wet gravel roads. Luckily, the streets were dry, so splattering salt wasn't as issue, and the mud on the Clear Creek Trail didn't seem too toxic. It was good to get out and give it a real try, since I'd only ridden it up and down the side street next to our house a couple of times. I felt good after getting used to being so high and the way the it felt to steer the bigger front wheel. I still need a proper bike fit before I race, though.

It looks a little like singletrack with the snow, but not exactly a good test of off-road handling.

As I mentioned earlier, the days since have been a bit weird. I've felt really crappy since Friday evening and I didn't ride on Saturday. I tried to ride a bit on Sunday, mostly to convince myself that I really felt bad physically and didn't just want to get out of riding. I really did feel bad, so I cut it short and spent the rest of the day resting. Today I'm much improved but not 100%. The good news is that after a weekend spent mostly on the couch, I seem to have shaken the "spinning out of control" feeling that's hanging over me the last few weeks and I'm craving sugar a lot less. I think the real honest-to-goodness rest did me some good, and now I just need to figure out how to maintain the calm as training kicks into gear again.