Will the ride follow the rhythm of past years (see 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015)? Or, will some fast riders blow things up at mile 10? I hope not. It's fun to draft in a big group for 25 miles or so.
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| The ride, 90 miles, 7,000 feet of climbing, 36 miles a gravel. (From Vicious Cycle.). |
I'm looking forward to no lost bottles, no flats, no broken rims, no falls - and a nice day out in the beautiful landscape, riding hard.
Can I get to within 5% of the winning time? I think I've made it to a good level of fitness and if I have a good day - including no flats - it might be possible. But, when out there in the sun and wind, roads and gravel, who knows. About two weeks to go.
The training has been good - with several very long, hard rides and good consistency. I've been exploring different three-day patterns of training, trying for aerobic adaptions. I don't think I have any Type IIB muscle fibers remaining. With lots of threshold intervals and comparatively long efforts in Zone-3 of a five zone heart rate model, my Type IIB fibers (fast twitch glycolytic), not that have very many of those, have been converted to Type IIA (fast twitch oxidative).
Unless I'm particularly motivated by, for example, Brig's back wheel, I don't think I can get into Zone 5 anymore. Ha!
With Gran Fondo Ellensburg on week 24, I get two easy recovery-type weeks. This week I'll do one hard interval workout ( 4 x [16 min. HARD + 2 min recovery]) one 3 hour ride and some ridiculously easy recovery-type rides. I'll try to sleep a lot and not eat much and do about 8 hours total. Next week, I'll do several very easy rides and a couple of short, very hard efforts, for about 4 hours prior to GFE. And that should do it.
Hopefully, somehow I'll meet up with Brig Seidl and Frank Colich after the big descent and we can ride hard to the finish with a big wind blowing us along.
But, who knows - the main thing is to focus and be alive to all that the day holds.
I'll try to ride hard, with elan and kindness.
Jan Heine demonstrates how to do it. His knowledge for materials and his skill is, I think, impressive, actually to my eye utterly extraordinary.
I've been practicing and trying to learn over the last three years with the same tires, same rims, and same tools.Yet, my skills do not seem to be developing. I'm still incompetent.
I bought two new Bon Jon 35min tires - planning to install them on rims that worked well last year. In their tidy packages these supple tires look beautiful. When I look at the tires, lying folded and flat, I'm full of optimism - I'll get them on the rims and they'll be fast. This will be easy, nothing will go wrong.
But, what the hell:
Tire #1 - It took 90 minutes to get the new tire on the front rim. I tried to blow up the tire with a tube to set the tire bead into the rim shelf but upon deflating the tube the tire separated from the rim. So, that didn't work. So, I went back to the tire and a really loud air compressor and I blah, blah, blah, bah. And more, blah, blah, blah. Finally, I got the tire inflated and dumped 2 ounces of sealant into the tire but then when I tried to inflate the tire with all the nice orange sealant inside it just wouldn't inflate. What! Then, as I was trying to inflate the tire, orange bubbles of sealant escaped and soon enough there was a flood of sealant coming out of the tire. What a mess: Sealant and soapy water all over the garage and all over me and my pants. Fortunately, I had enough sense to not wear good shoes. I tried again and got it to work but without sufficient sealant so I worked on getting two full ounces into the tire the next day. Finally, it worked and I blew the tires up to 50 psi; then, the next day the tire was 20 psi. But, after pumping it up to 50 psi again it stayed there. Yah
Tire #2 - I tried for 60 minutes on the back tire. No damn luck. I figured something must be wrong with the tape job or the valve. Hence, I tried an old Bon Jon tire that was not too worn. And, I got it to inflate immediately; yes, on the first try. What the hell! So, I went with the older tire. It should be okay, I hope. All my fiddling and messing around just did not work with the new tire. I lack knowledge of my materials and tools and I lack some kind of skill. But, where exactly do my gaps exist. I have no idea.
So there you go. Yes, indeed, Brig, you are correct: I was screaming to myself in anguish, not about my Raleigh headset, but about these wonderful tires. (Nice blog post. I wish I was out there with you on GFL but I needed to travel.)
But, who knows - the main thing is to focus and be alive to all that the day holds.
I'll try to ride hard, with elan and kindness.
My Wheels
As regular readers - ha: I don't have any! - know, setting up my tubeless tires (René Herse Bon Jon Pass 35mm) on my rims (DT Swiss R460) has been an ongoing, challenging, and a generally awful pain-in-the-ass process. Here's an account from 2017.
Long story, short: Those fast Bon Jon tires are installed tubeless.
Jan Heine demonstrates how to do it. His knowledge for materials and his skill is, I think, impressive, actually to my eye utterly extraordinary.
I've been practicing and trying to learn over the last three years with the same tires, same rims, and same tools.Yet, my skills do not seem to be developing. I'm still incompetent.
I bought two new Bon Jon 35min tires - planning to install them on rims that worked well last year. In their tidy packages these supple tires look beautiful. When I look at the tires, lying folded and flat, I'm full of optimism - I'll get them on the rims and they'll be fast. This will be easy, nothing will go wrong.
But, what the hell:
Tire #1 - It took 90 minutes to get the new tire on the front rim. I tried to blow up the tire with a tube to set the tire bead into the rim shelf but upon deflating the tube the tire separated from the rim. So, that didn't work. So, I went back to the tire and a really loud air compressor and I blah, blah, blah, bah. And more, blah, blah, blah. Finally, I got the tire inflated and dumped 2 ounces of sealant into the tire but then when I tried to inflate the tire with all the nice orange sealant inside it just wouldn't inflate. What! Then, as I was trying to inflate the tire, orange bubbles of sealant escaped and soon enough there was a flood of sealant coming out of the tire. What a mess: Sealant and soapy water all over the garage and all over me and my pants. Fortunately, I had enough sense to not wear good shoes. I tried again and got it to work but without sufficient sealant so I worked on getting two full ounces into the tire the next day. Finally, it worked and I blew the tires up to 50 psi; then, the next day the tire was 20 psi. But, after pumping it up to 50 psi again it stayed there. Yah
Tire #2 - I tried for 60 minutes on the back tire. No damn luck. I figured something must be wrong with the tape job or the valve. Hence, I tried an old Bon Jon tire that was not too worn. And, I got it to inflate immediately; yes, on the first try. What the hell! So, I went with the older tire. It should be okay, I hope. All my fiddling and messing around just did not work with the new tire. I lack knowledge of my materials and tools and I lack some kind of skill. But, where exactly do my gaps exist. I have no idea.
So there you go. Yes, indeed, Brig, you are correct: I was screaming to myself in anguish, not about my Raleigh headset, but about these wonderful tires. (Nice blog post. I wish I was out there with you on GFL but I needed to travel.)
Anyway, I took the bike and my wheels out for a long Saturday ride and they worked beautifully. Fast on the road and fast on nice gravel.
For Gran Fondo Ellensburg, I'll put 45 psi into them and hope they work. That's too much air pressure when going up (the bike will be bumping off the gravel); not enough air pressure when going down (at high speed, if I don't find good, gentle lines, I risk ripping the side walls or banging the rim into the ground); and about right on the road. See this very interesting blog post by Jan Heine, and this one - well, actually, read the whole blog: well-written; beautiful photographs; great stories; inspiring in an intense sort of way.
Anyway, I've taken off the fenders, cleaned up the bike, put on some new brake pads, changed the gear cables, and put on a new chain. That should do it. Ready to go.
I hope nothing breaks. And, Brig, I do hope that I have sufficient grease in my headset since I've not checked for a while.
For Gran Fondo Ellensburg, I'll put 45 psi into them and hope they work. That's too much air pressure when going up (the bike will be bumping off the gravel); not enough air pressure when going down (at high speed, if I don't find good, gentle lines, I risk ripping the side walls or banging the rim into the ground); and about right on the road. See this very interesting blog post by Jan Heine, and this one - well, actually, read the whole blog: well-written; beautiful photographs; great stories; inspiring in an intense sort of way.
Anyway, I've taken off the fenders, cleaned up the bike, put on some new brake pads, changed the gear cables, and put on a new chain. That should do it. Ready to go.
I hope nothing breaks. And, Brig, I do hope that I have sufficient grease in my headset since I've not checked for a while.
Being Alive
On the Centennial Trail, green as green can be in oh so many patterns, I saw two bald eagles quietly observing a lake (June 2, 2019). What were they thinking about? How did the warm sun feel? Some important questions to consider while being alive to the landscape and riding through the sun and shade.
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