Is Winter Over Yet?

I seem to be in a bit of a cycling funk.  It has snowed here a lot.  And it is darn cold too.  Real winter this year.  Yeah, playing around on the fatbike was loads of fun, but it does get old eventually.  And the snow transforms from fluffy good stuff to icy nasty stuff within a few days.  I think I'm ready for winter to be over.

The roads have dried up a bit in the last two days so I've been out on fatbike road rides and even got the cross bike out today.  On Tuesday's fatbike ride, I discovered a bridge completely missing on Stone Quarry Rd.  I had to tip toe my way across deep icy water on slippery rocks to keep my feet dry.   The county engineer makes it sound like it could be 6months or more before the bridge is back again.

Today was a real grind.  I did 53 miles but most of it was painful.  My legs just felt dead today and to boot there was an icy wind of about 10mph for the last half of the ride.  I just couldn't seem to power in to it and so was resigned to two hours of torturous 13 mph average, pushing into the nasty headwind.  Wind blowing over snow and ice covered fields, it feels like standing in front of a huge ice box with a high powered blower aimed right at you for four straight hours.

I seem to alternate really good rides when I am sure I'm ready to go pro with really awful rides where I can barely get the bike to move forward.   Maybe I'm a bit overtrained (I'm doing regular trainer intervals and weight lifting on in between days).   Maybe I'm a bit sick of winter and cold headwinds.

I think I'm skipping Southern Cross.  I just don't want to waste a 3 day weekend, drive 9 hours each way, spend $500, etc.

The highlight of today's ride was finding this little school house perched on a cove of Hoover Reservoir.  I've been in this area many dozens of times but have always missed this road segment.  Glad I found it today, it was just beautiful.  

Winter Is Here

Again, my blog entries seem to be few and far between.

I had sketched a plan and secured spousal approval to ride the C&O/GAP trail from Washington DC to Pittsburgh after Christmas.  My dad was to drive me down to DC from State College on Dec 27.  I would ride the 27th, 28th, 29th and possibly the 30th to finish in Pittsburgh and take a Greyhound to Zanesville.  Well, mother nature intervened.  We've had 3 major snow storms and a few minor ones.  Long story short, 8" of fresh snow on half of the trail made things impassable even for the snow bike.  So trip postponed for now.

Speaking of Christmas, I did very well for cycling gifts.  Bar Mitts for both the mountain bike and cross bike, and a new air compressor to mount tubeless tires.    Laura got some Wolvhammer boots and I must admit to being a bit jealous.  They seem way nicer than my Lakes.  

I've had a very good two months of training, logging one of my highest mileage months in Nov and did well in Dec too until the snow hit.  I even got a 96 miler in on the bike trail from Mount Vernon through Amish country to Fredricksberg and back.   After losing some fitness from taking most of Sept and Oct off, I feel very fit right now.  I am concentrating on weight lifting and intervals to build speed and strength -- my two major weaknesses.  

This past two weeks I've been forced to enjoy major snow rides, many with John.  It is fun but produces low mileage.  It is good for bike handling as we've been sliding all over the place on those fat bikes.   Every two to three days we've had another 2" to 8" of new snow, it just won't stop coming.   And now the cold is setting in so it will stick around plenty long.  I think we've already tripled the total from last year and winter has hardly begun.  Last year's mild winter won't be happening this year.

I've got my race schedule lined up for next year.  My A races are: Cohutta 100, Mohican 100, Lumberjack 100, Wilderness 100 and probably Shenandoah Mountain 100.   I may also do Southern Cross if John decides to go.  And I've had my eye on this race in the Black Hills called the Tatanka 100; I may add that too.   I feel like this is the year to commit to being fit and going after some good races.  I don't have many years left of being a spring chicken! :)  I would like to shave at least an hour off my race times from last year; I think that is realistic given my fitness level right now and the time I have available.

Boy would I like to add a Salsa Warbird Ti to my stable.  Freeze Thaw has one in my size and it is beautiful.  But I don't see the funds becoming available unless I win the Dirt Rag Lit contest ... still waiting to hear about that long shot.   I would be willing to sell my Ti Grove Innovations and my current cross bike, but I'll still be well short.  It is also possible to unload the road bike ( I only rode it 3 times last year ) but I would need to know that would bridge the funds gap.

It looks like Todd and John and I will go to see the World Championship Cyclocross race in Louisville on Feb 3.   That should be fun!