Lessons Learned
After trading messages with ChrisG yesterday I'm going to ride the DumpTrucker (Stumpjumper) for the Darkhorse 40. Otherwise it begs the question, did I learn any lesson at the Rattling Creek race? Why I would ride another bike 2 weeks before the 24 hour race is certainly questionable. So I'm going to ride my race bike at the race, as opposed to the much less sensible alternate.
Now on tire selection I'm not sure. I'm going to try to find a thorn or defect in the Blue Grooves. It's probably a bit premature to give up on them so I might consider giving them another run. I still have the Resolutions. Even if they're not in mint condition they're in decent shape. I can always fall back to them at any time. If I'm satisfied the BGs are usable I'll take them out for 2 rides this weekend to make sure they're not just flat prone. Otherwise I'll split the weekend between a big road ride and an off-road ride on the Resolutions.
One late contender is the Small Block 8 but really it's such a low profile tire that I doubt it will be a realistic consideration for the 24 hour race. If I had a pair I was using on and off I would throw them on for this race. I may still but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk. Too many other things to contend with to gamble on that I think. Another option is the BG in the front and SB8 in the back. I have to check the tire profile again this week.
One problem with starting the post on the train ride home is that the "developments" overnight sometimes render my initial thoughts useless. Well not useless but uninformed. I found a thorn in the tire last night. It was buried deep in the tire and I couldn't feel it just running my fingers along the inside of the tire. I took the tube out and remembered where the 2nd hole was so I felt in that general area. Nothing. I took the tire off, folded it inside out, and pinched the questionable area and sure enough the little bastard stuck out.
Maybe that's another lesson learned the hard way. Instead of trying to swap out the tire as fast as possible, take your time and try to find the problem. Also, why wasn't I carrying a patch kit? Maybe I was, I don't even know. Flats are so rare I don't have a routine. If I had a patch kit it might have inadvertently shielded the thorn from doing more damage though you know I would have flipped the tire and gotten a hole in the opposite side.
Every lesson the hard way. Every single one.
Brett dropped off a boat load of stuff last night including a Trek 8000 frame, a fairly light suspension fork, 3 wheels, maybe 5 tires including 2 studded tires, plus a box of components which I have to explore yet. He said he's done with the 26er thing so it's pretty much useless to him. I just need to figure out what it's worth to me and give him something for it. Starting bid is a plate of potato pancakes.
The frame and fork are pretty light so I hope use that to setup a hardtail race bike. The big question is, how close to 20 pounds can I get it? First order of business is getting some ball bearings and a stem so I can get the fork on. They may be in the Magic Box, I don't know since I haven't explored it yet. Both the fork and frame are disc compatible so I may explore both. Maurice is letting me test drive drive the tubeless rims so maybe this is a good place for them. The DumpTrucker could be in serious trouble.
This morning's ride was the reverse of yesterday. Today was one of those days when I feel stronger on the back end of back-to-back days. My legs felt good from the start and never really faded. I didn't hammer at the end like yesterday but I still ended up slightly faster for the ride by about a minute.
I was going to try to ride 3 days this week in an effort to put in a lot of volume 3 weeks out from the 24 race but I have a saddle sore the size of Kentucky and it wants the 2 days off. I'm taking all of next week off so I may still ride tomorrow but I don't want it to hurt too much over the weekend. I think I have to trash my old cheap Performance shorts as they're just about over the hill.
Today's FGI (fat guy index): 190
Now on tire selection I'm not sure. I'm going to try to find a thorn or defect in the Blue Grooves. It's probably a bit premature to give up on them so I might consider giving them another run. I still have the Resolutions. Even if they're not in mint condition they're in decent shape. I can always fall back to them at any time. If I'm satisfied the BGs are usable I'll take them out for 2 rides this weekend to make sure they're not just flat prone. Otherwise I'll split the weekend between a big road ride and an off-road ride on the Resolutions.
One late contender is the Small Block 8 but really it's such a low profile tire that I doubt it will be a realistic consideration for the 24 hour race. If I had a pair I was using on and off I would throw them on for this race. I may still but I'm not sure if it's worth the risk. Too many other things to contend with to gamble on that I think. Another option is the BG in the front and SB8 in the back. I have to check the tire profile again this week.
One problem with starting the post on the train ride home is that the "developments" overnight sometimes render my initial thoughts useless. Well not useless but uninformed. I found a thorn in the tire last night. It was buried deep in the tire and I couldn't feel it just running my fingers along the inside of the tire. I took the tube out and remembered where the 2nd hole was so I felt in that general area. Nothing. I took the tire off, folded it inside out, and pinched the questionable area and sure enough the little bastard stuck out.
Maybe that's another lesson learned the hard way. Instead of trying to swap out the tire as fast as possible, take your time and try to find the problem. Also, why wasn't I carrying a patch kit? Maybe I was, I don't even know. Flats are so rare I don't have a routine. If I had a patch kit it might have inadvertently shielded the thorn from doing more damage though you know I would have flipped the tire and gotten a hole in the opposite side.
Every lesson the hard way. Every single one.
Brett dropped off a boat load of stuff last night including a Trek 8000 frame, a fairly light suspension fork, 3 wheels, maybe 5 tires including 2 studded tires, plus a box of components which I have to explore yet. He said he's done with the 26er thing so it's pretty much useless to him. I just need to figure out what it's worth to me and give him something for it. Starting bid is a plate of potato pancakes.
The frame and fork are pretty light so I hope use that to setup a hardtail race bike. The big question is, how close to 20 pounds can I get it? First order of business is getting some ball bearings and a stem so I can get the fork on. They may be in the Magic Box, I don't know since I haven't explored it yet. Both the fork and frame are disc compatible so I may explore both. Maurice is letting me test drive drive the tubeless rims so maybe this is a good place for them. The DumpTrucker could be in serious trouble.
This morning's ride was the reverse of yesterday. Today was one of those days when I feel stronger on the back end of back-to-back days. My legs felt good from the start and never really faded. I didn't hammer at the end like yesterday but I still ended up slightly faster for the ride by about a minute.
I was going to try to ride 3 days this week in an effort to put in a lot of volume 3 weeks out from the 24 race but I have a saddle sore the size of Kentucky and it wants the 2 days off. I'm taking all of next week off so I may still ride tomorrow but I don't want it to hurt too much over the weekend. I think I have to trash my old cheap Performance shorts as they're just about over the hill.
Today's FGI (fat guy index): 190
Labels: training
2 Comments:
At 11:20 AM,
Anonymous said…
What's up fat guy. Daily measurements of my weight are pretty useless. I swear to you that one day last week I weighed 168.5, after a run, but also after a quart of water and a sandwich. The next day I weighed 176. I did however smoke over 4 pounds of crack in between, but you would think that you exhale most of that out.
At 11:13 AM,
Anonymous said…
try to live moderately
i only eat when i am empty
beer is not poison
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