more la ruta

Up the volcano today. It's like riding up little cottonwood twice without a a break. Down a rocky DH in the rain. Legs are not great but I plugged along out the back of the lead group. Again mostly alone today but I did pass Heras a few km before the finish, although for some reason the results have him ahead of me today.


Tomorrow to the carribean...

La Ruta

Day 2 in the books. I have had little time for updates so you might want to check Monavie-cannondale.com and cyclingdirt.org for the full race scoop.

For me personally I have been having a good time despite not riding all that great. Day 1 was the hardest day I have had on the bike. Oppressive heat, over an hour of walking in ankle deep peanut butter, and as expected long climbs. I am currently not very prepared for any of the three. But for whatever reason it was kind of fun.

Today was a little cooler but the climbs were even steeper. The 1st climb of the day was 3500ft in about 3 miles. In the 22-34 I could barely turn over the gear even while weaving. Maybe only 10 guys rode the whole thing and it was concrete. My big delemia for both days has been riding alone. I am not strong enough to make the initial selection and the few Ticos that are climbing around my pace get shelled on the DH so I spend the entire stage by myself. It's not even like I am racing at times. Today was about 50km of up and down pavement, mostly up and I had no one to work with. I guess I either need to get faster or slower, non of this no man's land business.

I could write a novel about this race as each stage includes countless stories that are not normally associated with racing. No time now though as I got to be up at 3am.
Volcano tomrrow and it has been raining for the past 3 hrs, does it snow in Costa Rica at 10k feet?

round and round

After a few weeks of cross racing it felt good to get out on the MTB today. Alex and I rode up Parley's this afternoon and hooked up with Ohran to burn around Round Valley. The dirt was great but the afternoon sun was low in the sky and killing our visibility, tough to stay on the trails at times.

All the explosive sprinting over the weekend has left the legs a little sore, taxing different systems is what cross racing is all about. Its good to see the Utah Cross scene getting so competitive. It used to be that I would ride off the front on the first lap and just ride around by myself. Those days are gone and now you have to be riding well to make the front group and then be willing to take chances if you want to win, at least at wheeler and the other flat and less selective courses. Maybe I'm just getting slower but I don't think so, everyone else is pretty focused and raising the overall level.

Leaving for La Ruta on Sunday, the last adventure of the year. Not sure if I am ready but I am not sure you can ever be ready. I guess if over the last few weeks I had been riding 30% grades for hours on end in the heat I would be a little more confident. Will see what happens...