Well, not a lot has happened since the last posting. At least, not a lot that most people might find interesting, but, there has been some stuff, so I'll throw it out there.
Ending today was an awesome week. I dubbed it, "Feel Like my Bro week." The reason is simple: I got to spend the last seven days worrying about nothing more than riding my bike. It was sweet. It started with a sweet team training camp in Prairie du Chien. For those not familiar with the state, it is right at the border with Iowa, on the Mississippi. It provided for some awesome riding venues. After rain the first two days the weather was superb. The first day was a good warm up ride of about 50 miles and the second day was the hill challenge. Can't say I did spectacular on the hill challenge, but, managed to be the last of the best of the climbers on our team. No worries. Each day was completed with a dinner at one of our teammates' parents house, on the river. Oh, and after each ride we soaked in the river...similar to an ice bath...or that was the purpose.
The third and fourth day were longer rides in the country river valley. They were quite spectacular. I have pictures, but, because it has been awhile since the rides, I am not going to post them. They were of cyclists, roads, trees and the hills. We ended up doing approximately 3700 feet of climbing on the first long day and about 4100 or something the second day. Either way, it was awesome riding and to have great meals made by someone else made me feel like a pro...like my bro!
I should also mention I roomed with Mantel and Luke and I would have gone on the trip for that alone. There was always awesome laughter and entertainment...it was great.
We got home later in the afternoon on Sunday and I spent the day relaxing and hanging out with the girl. Monday I took the day off to ride my bike and run other errands. Yesterday, I helped Mother plant some flowers and then did the team ride.
Which brings us to today...the Bone Ride. I think it was the 24th year? I could be wrong, but, not too sure. Either way, Tom Schuler and a former 711 teammate started the ride as a way to do endurance training and called it "Bone head" training. From this came the Bone Ride. The ride is from Schuler's house in Wauwatosa to Madison and back.
We left about 8:20ish this morning and arrived in Madison at about 12:15. We had a kick ass tailwind on the way out, which unfortunately meant a headwind on the way back. While in Madison, I enjoyed a tasty burrito...well naked burrito...from Qdoba with Luke, Mantel and Luke's parents. There were others there...not sure who though and I don't want to leave anyone out.
On the way back it we had a huge group and a reasonable pace. I felt like complete DS(dog shit) on the way back...until about the halfway point back. We got to about Johnson Creek and we (the Trocadero team) were a little irritated with the going fast, slow down...go fast, slow down...pace that was going on, so we determined it would be a good idea to up the tempo a little bit and see what happened. I am not sure if anything much happened except for me feeling a little better and us riding slightly faster. Ok, not just slightly, significantly.
These good feelings didn't last forever...we stopped at a gas station to fill up on some water and shortly thereafter I felt as though I left my legs on the side of the road. I did a couple good pulls to help the team push the pace and keep it up, but, that soon faded and I was hanging on at the back. I downed 4 powergels in approximately 15 minutes. Yes...4 in 15 minutes. Not 1 every 15 minutes, 4 in 15. It apparently worked because I felt better and was able to keep on with the group. I have no idea how fast we were going because my Garmin died, but, it was fast.
The weather was great and we could not have asked for a better day. All in all, it was a great way to end my "Feel like a Bro Week." The legs are tired, but, feeling good and strong. Hopefully I can get some racing in soon and we'll see what happens from there.
Back to work tomorrow though...which is always fun!
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