Thursday, June 27, 2013

False Start

Not exactly the start I wanted to get off to regarding my endurance training.  I've gotten in a couple good road rides the last few days, a sluggish run, and an ok weight training session, but my lack of adequate rest has already created a bit of a road block.  Simple fact is, you can't train what you don't recover, so I had to take a bit of a step back this morning and sacrifice good free time I planned to use for training in favor of getting some well needed rest.  Once I've got the sleep part of things figured out, I'm sure I'll hit the dirt spinning.

On an exciting note, I should be getting my new (new to me anyway) race rig tomorrow.  Though I said I'd never straddle another 29er, I'm getting a great deal on an Orbea Alma Carbon bike from a really good friend.  The frame is a smaller size that I'd usually ride, but in checking out the geometry and fitting standards on the Orbea website, it should just about fit.  Either way, the deal is so good it's not worth passing up, even if after getting it I need to make some other arrangements to get a larger frame.  Nothing like getting some new wheels!

Focus wise, it's really interesting swapping over, back to endurance.  The good thing, as I see it, will be that I'll be fitter for any downhill/enduro races that I do.  In addition, my bike skills are the best they've ever been, making for what will be an interesting combo if I can get my fitness back to where it used to be.  After my last stint in XC racing, I realized that though I was fitter than most other racers, my skill were seriously lacking.  In fact, that's what got me into the whole downhill thing.  I had so much fun trying to improve my skills for XC, I fell in love with DH and just kept it moving from there.  Now though, in deciding to pull off a piece of the pie from every angle, it's going to be a whole new ballgame.

At the end of the day, I'm just at my happiest when I'm riding bikes.  I've got a long travel bike, a dirt jump bike, and (soon to have) and XC bike.  Why in the world would I choose to limit myself to riding and racing just one???

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

And here I am again...

I can't even begin to share the adventures I've been through on this blog just yet.  Everything has been a blur for about the past three months but the speed seems to be slowing to a comfortable pace.  Things are getting settled and new adventures are on the doorstep of beginning.

I've decided to throw my hat back into the endurance mountain biking ring once again.  Following Anne around to all of her races has got the endurance bug biting me in the ass once again.  I won't go the triathlon route again just yet (not quite ready to get back into the water), but I'm excited to get back onto the bike and put in some miles in the dirt.  The plan isn't to focus ONLY on endurance though, as I'm still quite keen on racing enduro and downhill before this years season comes to a close.  Maybe it's silly to be a jack of all trades on the mountain bike, but I can't see (in my head anyway) any way in which I'd be at a specific disadvantage.  My bike handling skills are back up to snuff, and I've spent two years working almost exclusively on riding fast down hills.  Now I've just got to get back into that pedaling thing.

I'll write more as I've now begun "formal" training, and update more regularly before the first endurance race, the Wilderness 101 (NUE series)-which was oddly my last endurance race completed. Looking forward to the new journey!