More days passing

Island lake was two weekends ago. Maybury XC was yesterday. I wasn't at these events. An illness and prior obligations took me elsewhere. I am looking for results, but cannot seem to find them yet. I just know that I am likely not in 2nd place in the Michigan off road Championship anymore. No worries, plenty of time to catch up!

Next up will be the Luton Park TT this coming Sunday. More to come on that later. Right now I just wanted to give a recap of last week.

Tuesday

Because I was feeling better I decided to head out for some gravel from home. I got a later start, so maybe it made me ride harder. lol. I knew I had under 2 hours before darkness was setting in. So I opted for a loop I generated a few weeks ago. This loop is under 17 mile and pretty flat. It has a mix of pavement, gravel, and one nasty two track. This section is about 1.5 miles of non-maintained forest road. It has plenty of horse tracks, making it bumpy. If its not bumpy it is sand. My tires do not really like this type of sand. It is almost packed, but not quite. So when you hit it...the tires break through and dig in. It is a rough time keeping speed and holding the bike straight. After this section there is about three miles of pavement to recover on. Then the turn back to home is all gravel until the last mile or so. Overall it was a solid ride. Being flat with plenty of pavement made up for the sandy section. I was able to hold a decent average speed. Felt good to be back out.

Thursday

I took Wednesday off, but headed up to Luton Park on Thursday. With the TT coming I want to keep riding and learning the trail. I am trying to find better flow in every section. Learn where I can corner different and how I can get faster. The TT will be 2 laps with some 'shortcuts'. I say 'shortcuts' because there are parts of the trail are not included, or a shorter option is chosen. 

I started down the trail and used the first section as a warmup. Its pretty flat and then opens to a wider flat section. Perfect to get the heart rate going. I got to the first climb and was barely ready for it. Legs were feeling ok, just not quite warmed up fully. I cleared the climb and pressed on. Eventually I settled in and found a comfortable pace. I was pushing a bit, but not riding at race pace. I got to one section where I wanted to improve my line choice. Instead of following the outside line I normally take, I blasted straight through a rocky section and it was much much faster. I shaved a few seconds right there for sure. 

I finished my first lap and was pleased with the time. I pressed on to the second. Being settled into my pace now I was feeling more confident. I started to push the corners more and really force myself to hold speed. In general I am an ok bike handler, but I want to be better. I wasn't perfect, but I was doing much better working the corners and driving through them, versus braking into them and slow rolling out. My rhythm was much better. 

I got to the end of the second lap and checked my time. I shaved about 5 minutes off of my previous PR. I am taking this as a win, with a lot of knowledge to take into the TT this coming Sunday. I did head out for another lap, and just cruised it. Overall had about 20 miles on the Mudhorn in its natural environment. That third lap did make my legs hurt, but it was a good day. 

Saturday

Decided to sleep in for a change. Eventually I headed to Martin to ride a Dirty Donut lap. The plan was to ride the 41 mile loop. I started out quick on the paved sections. I was able to hold solid pace on the gravel. Legs were feeling good, so I pressed on. I knew there was wind out of the West, but I didn't realize how strong it was. The tailwind propelled me for the first 11.5 miles. I was hauling (for me). But then the roads turned back West.....right into the wind.

On top of the wind, this is where the climbing starts. There isn't a ton of climbing, but the legs didn't want to cooperate. Between the wind and the little hills my ride at Luton started to show. Legs just didn't want to push. I struggled on the small climbs, and suffered on the worst climb on the course. Legs were screaming.

The split for the long and short courses is right after the tough climb. Being 15 miles in, I wasn't confident I had another 26 miles left....so I made the correct decision to take the turn and head back to the car on the short course. I enjoyed the paved descent and then the bill came. After crossing under US131 the gravel turned loose and chunky. I struggled with this short section before making the final turn south back towards Martin. I didn't have much power, but I was doing ok.

I made the last turn onto the pavement finishing stretch. Its right back into the wind, so not as fast as i would have liked. However, I was able to push to the high school and finish the ride. I got done and headed home. I was tired, but not totally fried. It was a good ride and I was happy with my decision to do the shorter route. 

Later that night I looked at my matched rides. I shaved 20 minutes off of my PR for this course. Twenty....minutes.....

I knew I was quicker, but I didn't believe that I was a full minute faster per mile. My previous best average mph was 12.4. This ride was 15.6. A year later, I was over 3 mph faster. That is a big gain! I will take this result, even with feeling a bit bad for cutting the ride short. In hindsight this was the right decision, but during the ride it didn't feel that way. 

Was still a good week of riding and building for my next event. I stepped on the scale today and I happy to report that I am in the 220's for the first time in a very very long time. I am guessing it has been 20 years since I have been this weight. I am far from perfect. I just know that any progress is great for my health and my mindset. We keep fighting the fight, because giving up cannot be an option. Sure we will get knocked to the mat from time to time....we just need to get back up and keep fighting. 

Keep an eye out for the Luton TT preview later this week!