This little pig-gay is in the window at an interesting place I ride by most days of the week.When I asked, they refused to sell him to me.
Is it a good sign when you see windmill farms on the way to a time trial? Hmmmmm.....for those of you who don't venture out past DeKalb very often, there are a lot of windmill farms out there in corn country so it's a pretty safe bet that any time trial you do out that way is gonna be a real windy mother. I was hoping the corn would be sort of 'up' to break things up a bit but a strong WNW kept things interesting the entire 40K out in Paw Paw. Cupcake and I rolled out west after a line of strong thunderstorms passed through on what turned out to be a really hot though very nice sunny (windy) day.
40K time trials are the most challenging for me - I much prefer and do better in 20K and 30Ks. After the debacle that was Champaign, I asked MetLifeGuy WTF I should do to improve my 40K time trialing. His response: do more 40Ks. Thanks for that...though he was exactly right. We don't have many 40K opportunities each season - maybe 4-5 at most - so when one rolls around on the schedule I tend to sit on the fence and get anxious about whether I'll actually do it or not.
The course in Paw Paw is out and back, shaped like the big dipper with some nice rollers on the southernmost stretch and a fair amount of false flat/rolling terrain elsewhere. I felt really strong til the last 10K (no surprise there) and really had to dig to finish well. At about 8K to go I really wanted to just get off my bike and lie down on the side of the road - a good sign that I was riding it the 'right' way. In the end I managed to post my fastest 40K time ever - by a minute - I was very pleased. And yes, it was sub-hour by a substantial amount. Definitely a good day and a good test of fitness as Masters Nationals approaches. I am definitely stronger than I was at this time last season.
I finished 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' and am nearly done with 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' A great piece of classic lit and I'm loving it. Not sure what's up next.
I didn't have a lift to Peoria today so I didn't do the state crit. Sigh. Though opting out may have been a good thing in the long run. Looking at the race calendar I'm planning to do some of Superweek and will be spending a lot of training time on the TT bike. I will not be denied this year.
I am indeed still at the zoo but have settled in here and don't plan to leave for a while - so if you think I'm acting strangely, you're probably correct.
40K time trials are the most challenging for me - I much prefer and do better in 20K and 30Ks. After the debacle that was Champaign, I asked MetLifeGuy WTF I should do to improve my 40K time trialing. His response: do more 40Ks. Thanks for that...though he was exactly right. We don't have many 40K opportunities each season - maybe 4-5 at most - so when one rolls around on the schedule I tend to sit on the fence and get anxious about whether I'll actually do it or not.
The course in Paw Paw is out and back, shaped like the big dipper with some nice rollers on the southernmost stretch and a fair amount of false flat/rolling terrain elsewhere. I felt really strong til the last 10K (no surprise there) and really had to dig to finish well. At about 8K to go I really wanted to just get off my bike and lie down on the side of the road - a good sign that I was riding it the 'right' way. In the end I managed to post my fastest 40K time ever - by a minute - I was very pleased. And yes, it was sub-hour by a substantial amount. Definitely a good day and a good test of fitness as Masters Nationals approaches. I am definitely stronger than I was at this time last season.
I finished 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' and am nearly done with 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' A great piece of classic lit and I'm loving it. Not sure what's up next.
I didn't have a lift to Peoria today so I didn't do the state crit. Sigh. Though opting out may have been a good thing in the long run. Looking at the race calendar I'm planning to do some of Superweek and will be spending a lot of training time on the TT bike. I will not be denied this year.
I am indeed still at the zoo but have settled in here and don't plan to leave for a while - so if you think I'm acting strangely, you're probably correct.
