MINUS TEN
Often described as one of the toughest bike races in the lower 48 states, the Arrowhead 135 challenges even the most prepared riders. This is a journal by a non-athlete's participation in an event where starting is often just as much a challenge as finishing.
Refinements |
November 29, 2010 |
The long weekend was great. Got a few good rides in, lots of misc junk, and reworked the blog. I hated the other layout. Why "Minus Ten"? First, thats kind of an ideal temperature for the race, if I had to pick a point where I think my gear would work the best. Second, I'm probably acting ten years younger than I am, so we'll see if that bites me in the ass. Its kind of interesting that most of the participants in the Arrowhead are in their 30s and 40s. I think part of it is that it might be easier for older people to find the time to train for endurance. In reality, ten years ago I would not have been able to do something like this. Money aside, with two small children in the house there would not have been time to dedicate to training. Now that my kids are older and don't require full time attention, its a lot easier to do things like 5 hour training rides and not have it be a huge burden on the family.
Anyway, got out for another longish ride yesterday of about 3 and a half hours, again on snow packed trails. This ride was a bit harder than the previous. It was warmer, and the trail I rode was fully churned up by (mostly) dog walkers. Very teeth-rattling. The above-freezing temperature also made the snow pretty soft, so it was somewhat slower going even though some of it was "plowed". I prob should have dropped some air pressure. I need to find and easy way to measure the low pressure of those tires (my current gauge doesn't read that low).
I did see a handful of other bikers, however, and that was cool. I saw one other guy on a Mukluk, and someone on a Pugsley, and tracks from other mountain/cross bikes.
My cyclo-computer is still screwed up. Instead of trying to get the fancy wireless one to work properly, I switched back to my old one, but initially I had the wheel circumference too large. The result was that the speeds were too high, and total distance was off by a couple miles. I remeasured the wheel, and I think I have a better value now. I'll check it on the next ride. It kind of dissapointing as the error was in the wrong way... Oh well.
I should have the rear rack fixed up this evening as well. I called a local shop and they have the parts I need to get it properly mounted in some form. That's great because I'm tired of a sweaty back.
Planning to commute tomorrow. Overnight forecast is for snow, lets hope that its a manageable amount - closer to 4" than 7".
Anyway, got out for another longish ride yesterday of about 3 and a half hours, again on snow packed trails. This ride was a bit harder than the previous. It was warmer, and the trail I rode was fully churned up by (mostly) dog walkers. Very teeth-rattling. The above-freezing temperature also made the snow pretty soft, so it was somewhat slower going even though some of it was "plowed". I prob should have dropped some air pressure. I need to find and easy way to measure the low pressure of those tires (my current gauge doesn't read that low).
I did see a handful of other bikers, however, and that was cool. I saw one other guy on a Mukluk, and someone on a Pugsley, and tracks from other mountain/cross bikes.
My cyclo-computer is still screwed up. Instead of trying to get the fancy wireless one to work properly, I switched back to my old one, but initially I had the wheel circumference too large. The result was that the speeds were too high, and total distance was off by a couple miles. I remeasured the wheel, and I think I have a better value now. I'll check it on the next ride. It kind of dissapointing as the error was in the wrong way... Oh well.
I should have the rear rack fixed up this evening as well. I called a local shop and they have the parts I need to get it properly mounted in some form. That's great because I'm tired of a sweaty back.
Planning to commute tomorrow. Overnight forecast is for snow, lets hope that its a manageable amount - closer to 4" than 7".
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