Mid-weekery

When I got up Tuesday morning - it was cold out. Cold for the area, anyway. After 4+ days of solid drizzle there was a nice layer of winter frost on everything…and unlike the norm - it was still there hours later on anything that wasn't in direct sunlight!



Also got my latest weight weenie addition later that night and shaved another 57g from the bike! Not earth shattering, I know.



The week has basically been spent trying to kill my legs. It's going well so far, at least as far as I can tell. Tuesday I felt spectactular. It was a fairly great day to be outside. After 5 days of drizzle the sun was shining. It was somewhat windy and temps were cold for the area, but it was one of those days I was wishing I could ride for 5 hours instead of just 1. I was done with my intervals and on the flats on the way back to work just feeling like a million bucks. One of those days where the pedals are turning effortlessly and you're wondering if you're really turning that gear?

Wednesday was a bit warmer, and I had some harder efforts to put out (well, a smidge easier, but also longer).



Heading up there



The pro's will soon be heading up (the other side) there



I basically killed myself doing AE intervals on the first hill and my legs haven't been the same since!

Wish the snow capped peaks would've come out more clear



New Nema gloves (for mountain biking, but they worked to keep my hands toastier on a cool-ish day)



For the most part I did the remaining intervals (I went too early on one hill, or rather… went too hard too early - and had to sit up) successfully, and hit one last 5-6 minute climb spot on, and I felt good doing it.

The ride past In & Out was almost painful! It smelled sooo good. I've held off for almost 5 years now, not giving in any time soon!



I kept riding toward my monster of a PB&J awaiting me



Legs were totally worked the rest of the day, but I tried to hydrate and "rest".

They're definitely "sore" today (way more than they have been during the week in months), but I think I can hit my tempo ride tonight spot-on and be able to call my weekday workouts successful for this week. STOKED!

What I'm not stoked on is the forecast. The mountain biking gods are really testing my dedication this month! I've got a tentative ride plan for this weekend that I think will work either way. It isn't going to be much fun doing a 3.5 hour road ride soaking wet, but that's life!

Probably won't get many photos, so enjoy them while they last!

Weights and measures

Justin's been having a bit more down time than normal lately (we find out for sure what is going on tomorrow, I hope - MRI was yesterday), so he spent some time last night working on my rocketship, er, race bike.

He also had picked up my new Truvativ Noir WC bar. It is freaking SWEET. I can't WAIT to try it out this weekend! Mike had essentially said at my bike fit that my bars were way too wide (stock Specialized carbon lo-rise). That meant that my Salsa Carbon Pro-Moto's were WAY too wide. Justin had cut those down a tad before the Coup assault, and I liked the more narrow bars; they just felt a bit better. But, I also felt like they could go a bit more narrow. From what Mike had said, the Noir bars were basically the perfect width for me without needing to be cut down at all.

I think we shaved about 40g in the bar switch, and I also am probably sitting with about another inch or so of saddle to bar drop.





Dropped a good bit of rolling resistance weight from a tire change as well. Stock tires were the Fast Trak LK's at 502/528g



The Specialized Fast Trak SLK shaves a little weight for the front tire



The big weight-saver? The Maxxis MaxxLite 310 (lighter than advertised!)



I also stopped being lazy and applied the Scrub stickers to the bike. While those pics didn't come out, this one did:



Justin also took off the stock Specialized grips and added his old set of Ergon GP-1's. Those will be sooo much nicer. Can't wait to go GREEN!

Lastly, hope to check out some new Nema gloves this weekend at Southridge! Could very well be my first race of the year. Should be really interesting considering I haven't been anaerobic since mid-November. Hello pain, suffering and begging for death! Sunday will be similar, only "fun", and twice as long! Looking forward to the switch for sure. I'm ready to be out of regen this week and start to up the intensity! Next week is going to be FUN, but not in a really fun way! :)