Week 38

Date
September 19, 2015

Distance
110 miles

Strava Link
Week 38

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The weather was great again this week, so back to Tahoe I went. I felt a little bit better this week. Not quite back to normal, but better. I'll take any progress I can get.

I finally finished the Petoji ride reports. You can find them on Petoji.net or http://petoji.blogspot.com/.

Week 37

Date
September 12, 2015

Distance
110 miles

Strava Link
Week 37

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
The weather was great, so I had to take advantage and head up Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe. When you add up the 3 weeks of riding across the country plus two weeks of being lazy, it's been a while since I've been out there.

This ride marks 3 weeks since the end of Petoji, and I'm finally starting to regain my urge to ride again. I feel like I'm pretty close to being mentally recovered. Physically, I feel a long way off. This was the most climbing I've done in a while (since Day 2 on August 1st), and it showed. Mt. Rose hit me with the jabs and Gold Hill delivered the knockout punch.

Smoke in the air on Kingsbury Grade

I felt completely out of shape out there, almost like it was my first big climbing ride of the spring after not climbing much during the winter. I suppose it should have been expected. Petoji was a tough ride, but there wasn't a whole lot of climbing involved. My legs were dead after the ride. However, I was able to recover quickly. I rode 3 flat hours the next day and felt pretty good. I may have lost my climbing form, but I still have that ability to recover and be ready for the next day.

I'm going to try to make the most out of the rest of the year. I'm over 12,000 miles so far and want to hit 15,000 by the end of the year. Fall is coming soon, so there isn't a whole lot of time left. After I hit 15,000 miles I want to use this winter to do more off-bike things than normal. I want to get in a little more weight training and a lot more stretching. I've been doing a little bit of stretching over the past few weeks and my flexibility is garbage. I'd like to do a little experimenting and see if improved flexibility can make a difference on the bike.

Week 36

Date
September 6, 2015

Distance
105 miles

Strava Link
Week 36

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
I haven't done much riding since last week. I'm still in lazy mode. How much rest is too much? It's difficult to know, but I don't have anything big planned for the rest of the year, so it won't be a big deal if I end up taking too much time off and lose too much fitness. I'm trying to listen to my body and let it tell me when it's ready to go again. Right now it's just not ready. I don't have that burning desire to ride like I normally do. I'm sure it will come back within the next week or two.

That's not to say that I'm not having fun when I'm out there. This week I was back in Virginia City for the first time in about a month. I didn't feel physically strong, but it was a great feeling to soak in the sun and the scenery again.

Week 35

Date
August 30, 2015

Distance
101 miles

Strava Link
Week 35

Route Map/Profile

Weather

Ride Report 
Petoji is over and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself. I took 5 days completely off the bike, followed by 2 very short days and then this ride on Sunday. The ride itself was simple: a flat ride to the south and back. It was a nice day out there. I was expecting more wind, but it didn't pick up until late in the day.

I rode across the country and still couldn't find a better place to ride than Reno.

Where do I go from here? That's the big question. I don't have a goal to work towards right now and it feels strange. I've had a good year so far with 1 Everest, 1 ride across America, and 12,000 miles as of the end of August. Part of me feels like it might be a good idea to just relax for the next 3 months and focus on some off-bike stuff like flexibility and upper body strength that took a hit during Petoji.

Another part of me feels like I need a new goal and I need it now. You know how we are as cyclists. We always have to top that last big ride. How do I top Petoji? It seems impossible. I've tossed a few ideas around in my head. I could ride across America south to north (or north to south), I could do a loaded mountain bike tour, I could attempt to ride across Nevada in a day, or I could do a loaded tour in the southwestern states. I don't necessarily need to ride across things or do bike tours. I could focus on Everesting (5 in a year?) or the California Triple Crown again. I haven't done the Everest Challenge yet. There are some big one-day rides that I haven't done yet (Climb to Kaiser, Breathless Agony, Mt. Shasta Summit Century, etc.). I'd like to visit Colorado and do some of the big climbs there.

The possibilities are endless. It's just that nothing has jumped out and grabbed me yet. Then again, it's only been a week since Petoji. It might not be a bad idea to listen to the part of me that wants to relax for a while.