Spring Riding

I've been trying to pack on some more miles.  On Saturday, I aimed down toward Zanesville and then turned North to Dresden.  There were 25 mph winds coming out of the west so the ride down was pretty quick.  But turning back west I got slammed by a horrid headwind ... at about 50 miles into the ride.  I managed just 8.5 miles over the next hour and then realized I wasn't able to make it home in time to take over kid duty so Laura could go to her concert.  So unfortunately I had to waive the white flag and call her to come retrieve me, still 25 miles outside of town.  

Today was breezy, annoyingly so, but still much better than Saturday.  I went up Northeast to ride hills.  I tackled at least 15 of them in the 100ft to 250ft range, some with grades in excess of 20%.   I managed 4 hours of pushing hills and wind, a good ride.  I can feel the last few days of hard work in my legs, they are getting tired but I am still able to keep a good spin on the pedals even after 4+ hours.  A good sign but also an important reminder to rest fully before Cohutta.  


The dirt roads are finally drying out.  I found a gem from Dresden to Frazeysburg that went up and up.  Today I attacked several of my favorites, only one was a bit mushy, the rest were tacky and nice.  The photo here is of the top ridge of Floyd Boyer -- one of my favorite climbs in the area.  But the pea gravel on top of blacktop really bites.  Somehow rural counties think it is a good idea to dump loads of the stuff on back roads in the winter.  Lots of spinouts on the steep climbs.  It could be worse, I could be on my road bike instead of the cross bike.

I managed to grind my bottom bracket into nothing on Saturday.  Probably a remnant of last week's major sufferfest in the rain.  It was making a holy racket on Saturday, not that I could hear much above the blasting wind.  So I got a replacement and managed to put it back in right on only the second try.  Very smooth action today, and quiet!  

The forecast is calling for 18 hours of rain starting tonight.  It is fine with me as my body is telling me to recover a bit.  I am supposed to log 60 miles of flattish riding with T.F. on Wednesday.  We'll have to see if the rain moves off early enough to get it in.  I hope it clears up after that as I am planning on "racing" the Gravel Rouser in Athens on Saturday.  My first day out on the mountain bike to shake off winter cobwebs.