8 hour preride

Combination ride tonight. Got a chance to preride the Hardwood 8 hour course. No new surprises on this course. Its basiclly identical to last years fall 8 hour. I was kinda disapointed. Its not a bad course but there are a few things that I don't like about it. There are alot of flow interuptions. You finally get a rythem and then there is a hard 90 which you almost have to stop to make. There are alot of these sections. Its also going to be a last minute tire selection. There are lots of roots and soft spots after the 3 days of rain. It did dry up pretty quickly though. I was running the XCR dry's and they were not to bad. Lets see what the weather brings for next weekend.


The course is 10km and I cruised it with a lap of 35 minutes. I'm figuring around 29-31 minute laps for the first 4-5 hours and drop down to around 35 near the end of the race. A top 5 finish is the plan. Last year I was 9th on the same course and was just on the recovery road, this year things are good.

From there I did the weekly series. I got a crap start and must have been in 30th by the top of the first single track section. Bad positioning at the start. Like usual, lots went to hard at the begining and I started sucking people in. I backed things off a couple times in the course since I didn't feel my fiesty self. Still smoked the course though. Now I think they messed up in the timing tent tonight. Preston finished right behing me but they show him in 7th and me in 14th. Awww still just for fun and its more winning my age catagory that I look at and more my time. I was 30 seconds faster than the last time I raced.

The plan for the next week is more rest than riding. I have my massage on Friday which I really need. Yoga is awesome, the hot tub helps alot and tons of stretching helps maintain but nothing beats a massage. Hurts like hell but feels great later. Its been nuts at work and I've been feeling a bit tired the last couple days. Hell I had a 15 minute nap at the side of the road this afternoon. A nice calm weekend is what I need both physically and mentally.

Ahh and the other thing on the list is the tuneup of the race bike. Normally the beast goes into the shop but with Dave breaking his collarbone he has decided to shut down for a couple weeks while things heal. I'm hoping he heals quickly with no problems. I know its got him down.

Alright time for the hot tub.