Two Wheel Blogs

Really, it is more of a to-done list at this point but I thought I would continue the Sunday theme I started last week...

1. Lube/clean my SS MTB (since I abused it the past two days riding in freezing rain)....Done.

2. Core lifting/training....Done. Man, that sucked. It hurt the whole time. I amped up the reps during each set...and suffered miserably. My lungs were limiting me big time.

3. Laundry, cleaning, and vacuuming the house (every Sunday)...in progress.

I stepped out to get the mail this afternoon and could not believe how warm it felt. There's rain in the forecast, so even though I didn't really feel up to a workout I saddled up anyway.

You know the logic. The weather's half way decent today and it's supposed to turn to crap by tomorrow. I feel like crap today but I'll probably feel good and want a nice ride tomorrow. I do prefer not to ride in cold and rain. If I pass on riding today and feel like ripping it up tomorrow it'll be a helluva trainer session. If I go and ride today despite how I feel ant tomorrow's an off day then who cares, the weather's crap.

Front derailleur cable all repaired and ready to rock, I headed out for a quick jaunt on rolling terrain. For my efforts I got more of the same as yesterday. My legs just didn't have much snap to them. Even the little climbs brought the pain. Try as I might, I couldn't push it to the point where I was actually breathing hard.

My body was screaming something about needing food at just over an hour of this nonsense so I pointed the front wheel towards the refrigerator. I think it's time for a rest.

Tomorrow's supposed to be rain.

TUESDAY

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Feels like I'm in a slump. You know how every once in a while you get into a funk where nothing feels quite right? Motivation is just so-so. Energy level is just "ok". It's not like I'm bumping along on the bottom or anything. I just don't have that extra little something that makes the difference between a decent ride and a fast ride.

I'll get through it. I always do. It's not like the end of the world or anything. Power output was decent enough. My wattages were actually a little higher than I expected. I just haven't been feeling all that comfortable while producing good power lately.

It's probably just lack of sleep.

I had planned to get out and ride something over 2 hours this afternoon and ended up cutting it short. The already mentioned mediocrity was wearing thin. Then when my front derailleur cable, also worn thin, gave it up altogether I pulled the plug and took the next turn towards the couch.

Let me start by telling you that there are some goodies in here. I got a lot of this from an online forum, but I added a considerable amount from my own experiences. I am passionate about brake performance, and if you are not also passionate about it, please don't read this. I am very opinionated, and I have developed a lot of frustration over the years dealing with some of these maintenance issues(especially those that involve fixing what someone else did wrong)...I hope what I have learned helps you. I start out with several assumptions (for example, I assume you are using standard cable housing). Some of these tips may not apply to you if you are using special gear...but if you are using special gear, you already know what does not apply to you in here...

Hopefully after you read and understand this, you will have brakes that function in a manner that shows why many prefer mechanical disc brakes over hydraulic.

1) Start with clean or new pads. Clean the rotors with alcohol and never touch with skin.
2) Rotors must be true to within .005" on a dial caliper or damn close to it.

It's one of those weekends for me. There are too many non-riding things on my list of things to do. Some of it's cycling related, but most of it has to do with keeping up house and home.

Ugh, and the career thing. I have this big meeting coming up next week. It'll take me out of town for a couple of days. The preparation's the real killer. The meeting itself will be a cakewalk. Unfortunately cakewalks don't substitute well as training. Not even as cross training.

Let's see where else I can ramble here...

What was I writing about yesterday? Temperatures in the 50's, right? The hight today might have been as much as 32°. Windy too, but also sunny. I really wanted to get out there and try it on but all the aforementioned to-do's wouldn't allow me enough time. I settled for a quick session on the trainer.

The fun continues tomorrow. If I can get a few things wrapped up I really hope to get on the trails. I can't give it much of a probability of happening though.

I think our posse headed out to the woods tomorrow is in for one of those male bonding experiences. The meet-up and go is for 8:30am. The forecast:

Sunday:

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Man, oh man. What an amazing day we had here. Middle 50's. It felt like the 70's. It was a bit windy, but I swear even that felt warm. This is January? I'll take it!

The day was so nice it was deceiving. I overdressed by just a touch. A zipper adjustment and a push on my arm warmers and all was in good order.

And things were going really well too. I mean really well, from a wattage point of view. Every time I consulted my SRM, the readout said I was having one of those amazing days when crank arms fear for their lives. I hadn't even intended to make a lot of watts. I set out for a couple of hours on the road, so effort-wise, I was holding some power in reserve.

I should have gone ahead and used the watts though. My ride only lasted about 90 minutes. Do you recognize what this is?