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.