"This looks like a safe camping spot", he said, dropping his pack and crushing a wolf.
From the book, "Bored of The Rings"
Originally written spring of 2017...
Training. One of life's little lies and curse words combined. Yes, I need and enjoy training. Yes, I detest and abhor training. Two sides of a three sided coin (the other side is ice cream...chunky peanut butter ice cream, perhaps with coffee flavor...).
Three weeks left of the grind, before three weeks of THE Grind! At this stage in my training schedule, my goals are twofold; 1. Keep up mileage > 200 miles a week, and 2. Avoid measuring my progress by miles per week. Sound conflicting? You should see it from my view. Last week 283 miles with tons of climbing (yep, climbing is measured by weight).
This week I swapped a rim and put on a new tire. Hey, might as well change things up right before a race, eh? 'The' tire, as in the one I'll run the TD with: Maxxis Ikon 2.35" thingy. Damn, is that a large beasty out front! I cleverly saved $6.99 by reusing my tubeless rim strip. Four CO2 cartridges later, after limping home on a leaky tire today, I bought a new rim strip. And yes, I also pumped up the tire as well - just got lazy and had to use up those 30 cartridges for $40 I got a few years ago.
Oh yah, I ditched the dyno hub, as my second rectifier circuit (the electrickery thingy that helps fry your lights) went up in smoke. See above, "change things right before a race". Cannot afford an unplanned release of energy 'event' whilst on the Tour. So back to batteries. There, 'one less thing' as Momma used to curse. Bring on those lithium's.
Anyway, back to training. I'm ready to go now. There, I said it, put me in the game coach! Which brings up a boogie man in that I may have duplicated my mistake as I did in 2015 with peaking too soon. So the challenge is to maintain for another three weeks while not climbing over the sharp edge.
How much training is too much/little? Wrong question! The correct question is: what is just the right amount of training? Why heck, it's right between too much and too little. Won't go into all my conspiracy theories about training and its' effect on the body, or that little theory I have about why Big Foot never gets athletes' foot, but for me the right amount ends with about 6 full weeks at 200 miles per week, with plenty of climbing. Then again, I live and train at about a mile altitude, so do that too.
Last minute fussing with gear, as in which of five sleeping bags to take. Tried my 'old' (circa 2015) bag out in the backyard. 45 degree rated bag in 33 degree temps. I lasted until 5 a.m. . So I bought three more. My wife made me do it. One arrived and is very warm, hot even, but heavy. The other two are on there way from Japan. Montbell bags, they are. #1, #2, and #3 models, 800 fill down. Weights from 1 pound 3 ounce (#3) to 2 pounds 2 ounces (#1). Going to be a Goldilocks scenario, one too warm, one too cold, and one just right. Of course I'm a weight whore, so the lightest one will be just right!
Soon to come I will lay out my gear in another blog and go through the thought process (all four brain cells) in selecting the perfect kit. I will not specify which items I'll mail back the second race day though, leaving that to the gentle reader to perceive.
Had to remake my frame bag as the one I specially designed after countless hours of thought (actually dreamed of the design one night) was a great idea, and full of promise. Like the Titanic, it looked slick but had, erm, 'issues'. The new one is simple and works great. Ditto going to remake my feedbags and gas tank bag. Hey, for me sewing bags is both manly - got that? MANLY - and therapy, so no drama.
The end of training represents the start of the Tour Divide, and the end of the TOur Divide is the start of training for the next one. Cycles. Not all are titanium.
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