Wednesday, June 24, 2009

ITT on ITT

Since I finished setting up the Downieville Destroyer the other night I decided to go break it in properly. It seemed an appropriate trial for the new ride would be to do an Individual Time Trial up Indian Truck Trail.





The color scheme worked out well despite the fact that there was positively no planning involved. Using the parts we had laying in the garage, and the replacement frame for Allison's green Canzo, I was able to piece together a bike that I think will serve me well. What is with the pink you ask? Those are Allison's parts that weren't being used.



After snapping a few photos we unleashed the suffering. Rolling heavily fatigued, and battling the late afternoon heat, I set out to get a new PR up ITT.



I succeeded in getting the new PR, but along the way there were a few hiccups. They recently graded the road and there was a lot of deep sandy powdery mess waiting to bog you down. Maybe 15 minutes into the climb I was struggling with my pedal efficiency and realized that my seatpost had slipped down a bunch. I stopped and set it right again but in the process was passed up by the climbing superstar that I am married to. I put in some solid efforts and passed her up, only to have her take the lead again near the top and finish off the climb a good 30 seconds or more ahead of me. Sucks to get "chicked".



So it took an hour to go from Vons to the gate at Main Divide. It hurt. I figure due to the weight increase I lost somewhere around 3 minutes worth of time on a 1hr threshold climb (3 minutes was the margin I beat Allison up Clark's Grade on Saturday). I am hoping that the time lost on the climb is made up for on the descent and the next day on the downhill course, but only time will tell.

After snacking on some trail food we decided to turn left up "The Wall" on main divide to put a bit more suffering into our legs. I stayed in the middle ring and did some significant force work, I was surprised to later find that it only took us 10 minutes to get to the turnaround. I have vivid memories of walking up that climb not all that long ago... :)

Weekend Recap:

Allison already posted a weekend recap so anyone that reads her blog already knows what we did. It was our 6 year anniversary and I am still stoked to be married to her. I hope there are many many more years left in us to enjoy together!

Saturday pictures from our ride up Clark's and around some Big Bear trails...











On the descent I managed to puncture my rear tire (something sharp poked through the tread right in the center). It took a little while to get it to seal up but it eventually stopped spewing Stan's Sealant. I went really easy on it for the rest of the trip down.



No, my karate chop didn't help with fixing the leak. :/

After our training ride we went and supported Steph. I am very proud of her effort. She slayed the 12hrs at Rim Nordic!



Sunday we planned on celebrating our anniversary with a Trabuco-Holy Jim ride...



...unfortunately I managed to put a 1/4" slice in my tire somewhere around the halfway mark descending Trabuco. After putting a tube in the tire we found that the tube was not holding air and decided to scrap the ride. Climbing back out of Trabuco Allison was putting on a show and made me look bad, climbing like a mountain goat (no dabs!) and laying down a blistering pace. She really has come full circle with her riding lately. Should be interesting to see what happens in the future.

Training is going well and we are hoping to be on form for D-ville. I have wanted to do this race for a couple years now. I hope it turns out as great as I imagine! :)

Happy Hump Day!

1 comment:

Luke said...

looks good mann!!