Tuesday Night Sprints and Weekend Gravel

Last night we had our Tuseday Night Sprint ride, we had a pretty strong group so it was pretty fun. There was quite a bit of attacking going on and if a group of 2 or 3 got away they'd stay away. Wind was pretty visioucis and the heat took a lot out of me, I started cramping towards the end but before the cramps I was able to be the agressor which is always fun.

Last Saturday I went for a nice and easy gravel ride. Got Skittles ready and we took off at 7am, plan was to get an easy 20 miles and that's what I did. Here's some pics.

Came around a corner and there were a ton of big ass Elks staring at me

Let the fun begin

P.O.V

Nice rolling hills

Breakfast of Champions

 This season I've spent more time on Skittles than any other of my bikes. I've ridden it in the snow, cold, rain, heat and wind and the bike has been a blast. Extremely happy with everything about the bike. The only thing I've changed since the original build are the tires and seat. I switched out the knobbier Specialized Captain tires for a great Gravel grinding tire the Specialized Trigger, the Triggers give me plenty of grip in loose gravel, but I don't get penalized on hard packed gravel or pavement. I switched saddles from a Specialized Henge to a Specialized Avatar. The Henge is great on anything under 4 hours, after the 4 hour mark there just isn't enough padding. The Avatar has the extra padding I need on the longer rides.

This week I'm planning on a longer ride on Friday morning, not sure if I'll take Skittles or the roubaix out but need to get a nice long ride in. I'll decide on bike when I take off. Either way it'll be a mix of road and gravel.

Some awesome weather going on right now so get out on your bike and ride.



Sprint Night #2

We had 11 people show up and face the wind for the Bike and Fitness Company Tuesday Night Sprints. The route we took kept us out of the full force of the wind and when we did have a direct headwind it was only for a short time. The sections with tailwinds were fast, and made me feel like Mark Cavendish, on one of the sprints I almost hit 43mph, now if only I could do that going into the wind or uphill.

I felt way better this week compared to last Tuesday, I did put on the full Carbon wheels so that might have had something to do with it. With the ultralight Easton wheels on I felt like I was cheating a bit. I definitely feel like I'm in way better shape this year than I was last year at this time. My weight is down and I'm weighing less than I did at the end of last season. There's still plenty of pounds I'd like to shed before Almanzo and Chequamegon, but so far I'm on track.

Bike and Fitness Company rides are out in full force. Thursdays ride will be leaving the shop at 6pm sharp. Saturday there will be a 6am gravel ride and a road ride later in the day, will post on facebook when there is more info.

Sprint Night #1

It was the first official Sprint Night of the year and we had a really good turn out around 17 riders.  Sprint zones were Centennial, Tanks, Pipeline, Fireman's Lodge, Tastefully Simple, Voyager, and Shalom. I felt pretty good as long as the pace was constant. I was lacking in the jumps and had nothing when it came to the sprints. Still I was in the top 3 in close to all the sprints, and won the last one. It was great to get out and ride with some new riders. Troy, Nan, and Mike are all going to be great additions to the rides. Some of the older guys where being more aggressive and Eric was extremely fast, between him and Angie I'm really going to have to work on getting some of the sprints this year. Now if we could only get some more big guys out there I'll be able actually feel what drafting is all about.

Great first sprint night of the year. Thursday we'll be leaving the shop at 6pm sharp for a mellow road ride and on Saturday there will be a group ride leaving at some time during the day. Will post on Facebook at what time ride will leave. As for me on Saturday Ross and I will be leaving the shop around 6am to go out and get a 60-70 mile gravel ride in.

Riding season is here, we'll see you on the trail.