Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Getting My Mind Right

One of my “fitness techniques” this year is to cover more base miles during the week. The rides from my house out to Paris Mountain State Park are supposed to be accomplishing this for me. Last night was no exception.

Andrew had informed me of a back roads route to get in the front entrance of the park. This is appealing for me as the access at the top of the mountain is top secret and was getting a little shady to use.

So I went out on an adventure last night. I would swear that the access roads to the front of the park, are more difficult than climbing the mountain itself. There were a couple times last night that I thought I was going to rip my legs off before I was even on the trail.

Once I was inside the park, I rode everything but Firetower. I love the big long warm up ride out to the park. My legs are flushed with blood and ready to rock and roll as soon as the trail starts.

It wasn’t busy at the park but there were some trail users out. I had one particular encounter that made me smile ear to ear. I was coming down a rocky tech section when I looked up at a uphill rider hitting the wall. His head was down and all of his concentration was focused toward each individual pedal stroke. I pulled off to the side of the trail just as he heard me and looked up. I saw his legs start to slow so I yelled “Keep Going, Keep Going, Keep Going.” He was recharged by this and rolled past me faster than he was moving to begin with.

I stopped at the lake for a good while last night. This was basically my halfway point and I was energized by a beer I had packed from my house. I only drank 92.8% of it though because it was 7.2% alcohol and that stuff is not allowed in the park. Yes, I always pack out what I pack in, either in my stomach or bag.

The climb back out from the lake was great. I felt really strong and I knew my favorite downhill was coming up. I felt really strong on the last two tech downhills. I don’t know if it was the one beer courage or what but I will take it.

Phase I of Cowbell training Phase III is complete. Wednesday and Saturday’s rides at Dupont will complete Phase III.

Peace

1 comment:

dicky said...

Wishing you some luck at the cowbell. I'd love to be around to see how you do. (That's a serious comment).