Tour de Chelan Century Challenge on 6-20-09

Despite presenting the Cascade Bicycle Club with the concept for the High Pass Challenge, and working with CBC staff to develop the event, I’m not much of an event guy. I’m going to try and describe why I have added the Chelan Century to my short list of what I consider the premier organized ride events in Washington State.

My “requirements” are rather specific and demanding. First and most important, I have to feel that the ride conditions are safe and this obviously encompasses traffic conditions, road design and cycling compatibility, as well as the number and experience level of the riders in the event. Next, the route must be interesting, and for me that requires varied terrain with lots of climbing, including at least one long or epic climb. Last, but not least, the event support must be good, otherwise why put up with the hassles that can come with riding with the crowd. If you have to stand in line for 10 minutes to use the Sanican or grab a bagel, I’d rather just go it alone on my own.

The Chelan Century, the High Pass Challenge (I already did the disclosure), and the Tour de Blast are the three events that I would go out of my way to do. Unfortunately, all three are a long way from Seattle, and in 2009 the Chelan Century and the Tour de Blast were held on the same day. Ramrod would likely be included on most riders' lists, but for me, those first 50 and last 30 miles kind of spoil the outstanding riding during the 100 miles in between. Narrow roads with no shoulder, and a lot of early morning “Urgent Hour” traffic give me the creeps in the early miles. You will likely be in pacelines as you negotiate your way through this section, and the pacelines that form along 410 during those final 30 miles into a headwind are some of the scariest I have been in. Everybody is tired, and you are as well, so going it alone isn’t a great option either.

This was my first Chelan Century, and it met all of my requirements. My estimate of participants was only 300 riders, and everyone I saw seemed to be very experienced; I never saw a wheel out of line, or anybody do something stupid, as seems to happen when a group mentality takes over. There were enough bicycles to give you that “safety in numbers” effect, but not enough to ever feel crowded. Car drivers in the Chelan area are used to seeing cyclists, and the roads are just fantastic for cycling. None of the roads were super busy, and there was a wide shoulder available anytime there were more than a superficial number of cars on the road.

This fairly new event is produced by the Chelan Rotary, and you would never know that they are not “bike people”. There were a large number of volunteers given the number of participants, and every volunteer appeared to be dedicated to doing what they could to insure the safety and comfort of the riders. Food was fresh and plentiful, and there were a large number of mini-stops provided for water and a quick banana or bagel. I never waited in a line for anything; in fact, I never even saw a line. The support stop at the top of the out and back McNeil Canyon climb reminded me of the support provided by Cycle Miles at the top of every col during my 2007 Pyrenees trip. The Rotary even had the event t-shirt and jersey design dialed in. Despite the distance from Seattle, it’s easy to see why this event attracts more riders every year.

One word describes the route—magnificent. The Chelan Century route is a little unusual in that it is comprised of three loops of similar length, with all loops returning to the ride start at a lakefront park in downtown Chelan. Given the option, it appeared that some riders did just one or two of the loops. It’s just incredible how interesting and varied the terrain is, and at times it made me feel like I was back riding in Colorado. I love living in the "green zone", but it’s great to be able to access a totally different world east of the Cascades.

With 8600’ of climbing, there was ample opportunity to get in the climbing groove, and the descents on smooth roads were fabulous. While McNeil Canyon isn’t the longest climb around, it certainly ranks as epic. Gaining 2250’ over the 5+ miles of the main part of the climb works out to an average grade of 8.42%, and it would appear to be just a very hard climb. The last 1.25 miles at 10.6% guarantees that the overall grade that your legs feel is considerably steeper. This final section caps off what is an extremely hard climb, similar in steepness (but longer) than the Mt. Constitution climb on Orcas Island. Try to visualize four Montreaux (Village Parkway) ascents in a row, or use your imagination to link five Somersets...well, you get the picture. It’s a beast of a climb. There were a lot of happy faces at the top of that monster.

With one exception, all of the other climbs give you a choice as to how hard to punish yourself. With moderate grades and some good length, the Echo Ski Area and Navarre Coulee climbs were a perfect contrast to the brutal McNeil Climb. There were a lot of climbs on which it was easy to pick a pace and enjoy the flow. With the exception of the grinds up McNeil and the final climb, it never felt like we were riding all that hard, yet the three of us seemed to be making good progress compared with most of the crowd. At the end of the ride, I wasn’t really that tired, certainly nowhere near as spent as I am after the typical 70-75 mile summer Hills of the West Coast.

The whole day seemed to go off without a hitch. I had only one little frustration during the entire ride. As we started up the steep McNeil Canyon grade, my chain did not want to stay on the largest cog. Riding this monster without that cog was not an option, so I stopped to snug the rear derailleur cable adjustment. Funny how the new cable installed several weeks ago picked this moment to stretch enough to not provide enough tension for the rear derailleur to move the chain up the cassette. It could have occurred on any one of the earlier climbs, but it didn’t. The third time I stopped for a cable tweak was in the middle of steep sustained climbing, and I decided to wait for my mates in the shade. Never once stopping mid-way on a climb in the Pyrenees or Alps, here I was stopped on McNeil. Initially, I forgot that we were being timed on the climb, but I quickly decided not to worry about that. In the grand scheme of things it just didn’t seem important, besides, I was timing myself, and I was pleased overall with how I rode the climb.

Everybody doing the full three loops seemed to be aware of the final climb of the Butte lurking at mile 98. Volunteers at the turn in for the out and back climb let us know that it was “voluntary"--funny that Tim never mentioned that. Mercifully it was only a mile long, and at over 10% average grade with a max of 15%, I'm not sure anyone was complaining. Honestly, it was the least attractive climb of the day, and skipping it would still give you 100 miles if that type of milestone is really important to you. Actual total mileage was a hair over 103 miles, and in my opinion, leaving this one out would not compromise your enjoyment of the event. Judging by how few bodies we saw on the climb, it appears that many did skip it.

After all, it was an event, not a race, and opposed to some other events, this one had a laid-back feel to it. I was invited to Chelan for the weekend by my friend Tim, who has had a lakefront house in Chelan since 1994. With us was Tim’s friend Daryl, and Tim, who has ridden in every Chelan Century, provided us insight during our journey. Team HPC was well represented, and we ran into the gang a number of times. At the top of McNeil, it was really nice to be around many riding friends from Seattle, and here I was, three hours from home.

We never encountered the sometimes huge pacelines that form at other events, and there was none of that “team” mentality evident at some of the large rides. Not once did we see a large team “sheltering” their leader from the wind, protecting him, and then launching him in his quest for his own PR, or for bragging rights over someone else.

We didn’t see anyone treating the ride as anything more than it was: a well-organized, small event on superb roads winding through a beautiful area of the state. It was one of those rare days when the breeze seemed to be at your back 75% of the time, and thankfully it actually was on the way up McNeil Canyon.

I hope to see you on the road.

6-14-09 Hills of the West Coast Ride Report

Miles: 50.3 Climbing: 4350’ Attrition Rate: 82% Route: Downtown—Mercer Island—Honda Hill—Newport Way to Issaquah—Olympus climb on Squak—Wildwood climb on Squak—Newport Way—164th climb to top of Lakemont on Cougar Mountain—Forest—Coal Creek-Lake Washington Blvd—Mercer Island—Downtown

Stacking two back to back hard Squak Mountain climbs early in the ride can wreak havoc with the ride attrition rate, and the Olympus and Wildwood climbs of Squak did splinter the peloton.

We started with 10 riders on a cloudy and cool morning, the day after Flying Wheels. Going across Mercer Island, we picked up a kit attired rider who at first resisted the inevitable pass by the HOWC train. He wound up joining us, so then we had 11, at least until after the first climb at Squak, at which point he bailed. I think there might have been a little bit of “I’ll show them” involved, and when he finished the climb far from the front, it might have turned into “If I stay, I’ll get my ass kicked”.

Jeff took a long rapid transit pull on his aerobars just before that climb, and that might have had something to do with several riders cracking and departing us after Squak. Doing Olympus and then Wildwood as our first two climbs proved challenging, and several riders even abandoned part way up the second climb.

By the end of the ride, only Don and I were left, and I was glad for that, as I had left my mini-pump at home! Don hasn’t been on the bike much, and maybe it was fitting that he toughed it out and hung in there. Of course, not everybody left us early because of a couple of hard climbs. Bill and Jason split on the way back to add more miles, and Jeff did just the first climb because he is tapering for his first Iron Man next Sunday.

By design, today’s ride was shorter than the past few HOWC’s. On Thursday I am heading to Chelan, and on Saturday I will ride in the Chelan Century for the first time. With McNeil Canyon at the 50 mile mark, and an 11% climb at 98 miles, I thought it prudent to keep the route reasonable.

As an aside, today was the first Sunday ride in three years that I did not expect Tracy to be working when I came home. Yesterday, she “walked” at Husky Stadium, and had her name called out to receive her Doctorate in Education. I expressed my concern that the uninhibited frivolity of the HOWC could be compromised if I started to feel guilty now that she wouldn’t be working every single Sunday morning. Tracy has informed me that I need not worry, as she will be going to brunch, getting pedicures, reading the paper, and maybe even riding her bike. In other words, there is no need to rush home, and she is looking forward to a little relaxing. It's good to have her back!

We have always chuckled about how many riders leave the ride early, and some of the muttered excuses we have heard are pretty unique. While we have never formally tracked the attrition rate, I think I will add it to the ride stats I list at the top of the ride report post.

Not that I am trying to scare people off, or anything like that. For people who read the ride description, there are no surprises. Besides, one can always retrace the route home anyway.

Come prepared to ride hard and safely, share the work on the front, have a good time, and likely be very tired at the end of the ride. That’s what the HOWC is all about, and that’s the way I like it.

I hope to see you on the road.

6-7-09 Hills of the West Coast Ride Report

Miles: 70.5 Climbing: 5000’ Route: Downtown—Mercer Island—89th—May Valley—148th—Jones Rd.—196th climb—Sweeney—Maple Valley—216th—Tiger Mountain climb—Issaquah—Squak Mountain climb—Newport Way—Mercer Island--Downtown

With every foot of ascension of Squak Mountain, my motivation for doing the Montreaux Village Parkway climb faded. Today’s plan was to complete the “Triple Issaquah Alps Traverse”. After using the 196th climb, and then taking Sweeney Rd. to reach Maple Valley, we headed back north and then east. We did Tiger Mountain from the south, and we criss-crossed Squak, going up to the top via Wildwood, before dropping down Olympus to Tibbet’s Park. Next up was Cougar Mountain.

Physically I felt good today, and I feel quite fit for early summer. Overlaid is a little layer of fatigue, the result of four strait fairly hard weeks, during which I have averaged 230 miles and over 13,000’ of climbing per week. Throw in four pretty tough HOWC’s, and what you get are good fitness gains and fatigue, likely as much mental as physical.

So with the choice of Zoo, Montreaux, or Somerset (technically not Cougar) crystallized in my head as we rolled up Newport Way, I chose…Newport Way. Yes, of course, I was tired, but I still felt good, and I guess I just didn’t want to do another hard climb at a high pace with a competitive group.

It probably didn’t help that it was my turn to pull on the gradual uphill as we passed Eastgate Elementary before the turn for Somerset. Much to my surprise, as I was detailing the meeting spot for the riders desiring to do the climb, they all chose…Newport Way. We had another strong group, we had ridden hard, and I guess I wasn’t the only one who just didn’t need one more climb with no easy way up.

Rarely do I prefer riding hard on the flat to a nice solid climb, but just as in past weeks, I seemed to feel better and better as the ride wore on, and towards the end, I was riding hard as we rolled back. As he has on recent HOWC rides, Emil threw in some late attacks, and I had to ride hard to cover them.

It’s a good thing I am enjoying riding hard on the flat. Today was the first day of the year for our “Super Strenuous” pace. For July and August, the ride description I have posted mentions that “Riders should be capable of taking short pulls at 23-25mph”, and on some HOWC rides that is conservative. And yes, we will still be climbing hills as well. Ah, summer is here, and it’s easy to tell on the Sunday ride.

So I am now in my fifth hard week in a row. I’m committed to riding the Chelan Century on June 20th with three strong riders. I know the pace will be high, and there is 8600’ of climbing, so I have been rationalizing that I need to “build” for this day.

In reality, the weather has been fantastic, and I just wanted to do what I do, and what I like to do is ride my bike. I don’t need any motivation other than the fact that I simply love to ride. The hard part for me will be cutting back the hours on the bike so that I am well rested for Chelan.

I hope to see you on the road.

5-31-09 Hills of the West Coast Ride Report

Miles: 74.5 Climbing: 4000’ Route: Downtown--Mercer Island--Honda Hill--Newport Way to Downtown Issaquah--Issaquah-Preston Trail to Highland on the Sammamish Plateau--Issaquah Fall City Rd.--Duthie Hill Rd. climb--202 North--Ames Lake Rd. climb--Carnation Farm Rd.--203 to Carnation--Tolt Hill Rd. to West Snoqualmie River Rd.--40th St. SE climb--Flying Wheels Route to E. Lake Sammamish--Issaquah--W. Lake Sammamish Parkway--Trail on north frontage of I-90--Eastgate Park and Ride--Mercer Island--Downtown

Butta…smooth as butta. Those are the first words that come to mind when I think of today’s ride. Today’s effort was one of the best rides we have had in years, if not since the inception of the Hills of the West Coast ride. So smooth that the group of 18 rode together like a well oiled machine. Throw in a strong spirit of camaraderie, and an elated sense of sheer exuberance of riding bikes together as a cohesive group, and it was a beautiful experience. It was as if we rode together five times a week, despite the fact that we had total newbie’s on the ride.

Today’s route didn’t hurt either. I guess I could count, but it’s easier to guesstimate how many HOWC rides we have done over the last six years. My conservative estimate is somewhere around 25 per year for a total of approximately 150 rides. Not once can I recall using the same exact route two weeks in a row until today. I think this “new” route through Issaquah, the Sammamish Plateau, and then out through the southern part of Snoqualmie Valley really is outstanding for the type of riding we do at this time of the year. Spring is usually a “build” time, and we make a lot of trips out to Squak, Tiger, and Cougar Mountains for the long and steep climbs available there. Summer is fun time, a time to enjoy the form you have built, hitting some routes where one can stretch their legs.

Speaking of form, I felt good today, but my legs were not as sharp as they could have been, especially early in the ride. Several consecutive hard riding weeks, including fifteen thousand feet of climbing last week might have put a little fatigue in my legs. Perhaps I just waited too long to go to the caffeine, because by the end of the ride, I was feeling pretty darn good, at least on a relative basis. In any case, I was super appreciative and thankful for all of the eager help on the front of the ride. As usual, we had a lot of strong riders, but Jeff in particular was in top form. I’ve ridden with Jeff for three or four years, and I think he is the strongest I have seen him. Looks to me like he will do well in his upcoming inaugural Ironman.

We rode a little bit above the advertised pace, and we had a few people comment that the pace was right on the edge of their capabilities, but they were grinning when they said it. Everyone knows that to get faster, you have to go faster, and people pushed themselves. I don’t think anyone failed to garner a little “training effect” today. No one cracked, no one dropped off the back on flat sections, and waiting time was minimal on the top-of-climb re-groups. We put in quite a few miles of some fairly serious pacelining (including 11 minutes on Snoqualmie Valley at a hair under 25mph), and I never saw a wheel out of line.

So what blend of magic elixir could be responsible for such an enjoyable, safe, and successful ride? In a nutshell, it’s called cooperation. I have felt for a while that many people on group rides wind up using half of their energy bridging gaps that form as the leading riders “roll” through stop signs, etc. This is particularly true for the riders at the rear of the group, and these are the riders who tend to be the most tired anyway. It’s not the pace per se that is damaging, it’s the very hard efforts required over and over to close those gaps. When the group is not together before the hammer is dropped after a slow down; well, that’s not even fair now, is it?

We killed two birds with one stone today. Several of the rides this spring have been “looser” than customary, and I’ll be honest, I have not been happy with the sight of our groups of 15 to 20 riders blowing stops, especially when quite a few riders are sporting the Team HPC kit with “Cascade Bicycle Club” and “Cycle U” emblazoned front and center. Yes, I know that just because the HOWC goes off with a little more courtesy is not going to repair the damage that certain parts of cycling’s image are suffering from, but hey, just like global warming you have to start somewhere. I beat this subject to death in a recent previous blog post (“Close Encounters of a Car Kind”) in case you would like to chime in with your comments.

There is no need to mention how we accomplished these goals, other than the aforementioned courtesy. Suffice to say, be prepared for a few small changes in the ride protocol the next time you join us. A few small changes that didn’t seem to take away any of the fun, increased the safety of the ride, and made the ride go a lot smoother than it has been. The HOWC is important to many of us; massaging the process as we go is important to continue the spirit and viability of the ride.

Once again, the power of the group was obvious, and not just to the people who were really digging deep to hang. Even if I felt fantastic when I woke up this morning, there is absolutely no chance that I would have gone out and ridden solo with anywhere near the intensity I did with the group today. By myself, I likely would have just cruised around, but the power of the group put a lot of “training effect” into my legs.

Yeah, racing will give you that, but people hit the pavement too frequently, and you lose the social aspect that was so prevalent on today’s ride, at least while you are actually racing. For my money, riding like we do on Sunday gives us a lot of what you can get out of racing, but with almost none of what you don’t want to get out of racing.

I hope to see you on the Tarmac.

Giro Moments

Now that the Giro is almost over, here are some of my opinions formed while watching the internet video replays:

Lance Armstrong appears to be 5-8# heavier (notice I didn’t say “overweight”) than he was when he rode the Tour de France. It’s likely he was on a carefully calculated schedule to lose the weight while he was building fitness for the Giro/TDF, and his broken collarbone derailed his plan. Take those few extra pounds off, and it seems possible that he could have contended for the Maglia Rosa, as those climbs were hard, and the extra weight didn’t help. Will he still be a little “heavy” at Tour time, and eager to play the role of super domestique? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Given the history of the sport, how hard the Giro route was, and how hard they raced day in and day out, do you believe that the race was “clean”? There were no announced drug positives, but I wouldn’t bet on this either.

I know these guys are the best in the world, but it’s hard to believe anybody could do this race without some kind of help.

Bibshorts with a white center panel should be outlawed.

What’s up with Armstrong’s black shoes and socks? Not only does he have to be the only one dressed like this, but he looks like Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. That Astana (but not Astana) kit is bad enough as it is, and then there is the bike...

These guys absolutely FLY up the climbs.

Last but not least, I know the Miss Giro podium models are tall, but these guys are TINY!

Close Encounters of the Car Kind

Yesterday I read an editorial at pezcyclingnews.com about the image of cycling and cyclists and how our actions influence the perceptions of automobile drivers:

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7054&status=True&catname=Toolbox

There were some good suggestions as to how to improve upon our image. I assimilated the info, mostly subconsciously, but didn't give the article much more thought.

Today I had a chance to practice a few of the tips.

I was rolling out to Squak Mountain on Newport Way, just west of the intersection with Rt. 900, and just after the decent shoulder goes away. It was 8 AM, and there was some traffic, but by no means did the setting seem typical of the "Urgent Hour" when everyone is scrambling to get to work.

As I was scanning the view behind me in my little mirror, I noticed a black SUV with dark glass approaching at well above the speed limit. Despite the many miles I ride, I don't feel like I get "close passed" very often. I typically profile overtaking cars, and if I see something I don't like, or if a car is making no effort to move to the left and/or slow down, I move left myself in an attempt to “walk” the car to the left. This forces the car to do something, unless they are just going to run over me, and as they approach, I gradually move to the right and give a friendly wave of thanks for the buffer of space I was able to create.

I used this tactic this morning, but there was oncoming traffic, and not a lot of maneuvering room. I stayed out a little into the lane, and then at the last moment I moved to the very edge of the road, as I saw the car driver was not making any effort to change their course. The car missed me by what seemed like 6 inches as it went by me at about 45 mph.

I put my head down, and hammered on the pedals, knowing I would likely catch this car at the Rt. 900 light. I did, and as I rolled up to the driver's side window, I was not happy. It was a woman driving the car, and she was looking into her purse, oblivious to me having pulled up behind, and then right next to her. I tapped on the window, and started "speaking loudly", and she cracked the rear window.

It must have been then that I thought it possible that she never saw me, despite the fact that I was wearing a bright yellow jersey. Could she have been brushing her hair in the mirror? How scary is that thought? Scary, but deserving of a full verbal attack?

For whatever reason, she decided to roll down the driver’s side window, and I guess that conciliatory action on her part (and perhaps the subconscious influence of the Pez article) calmed me down and altered the tone of the encounter. Using an urgent, but not totally angry tone, I said something like "You missed me by 6 inches", and never even made any effort to slow down." She quietly replied, "I'm sorry," and I wasn't sure she was totally sincere, but it was close enough.

Past encounters of this type have not gone this well for me. Several times, as I lambasted a driver in a confrontational tone, I have mentally and physically prepared myself for the driver to step out of their car and engage me without their steel cocoon around them. Luckily this has never happened, and regardless of how keyed up I may have been at times, there are certain encounters that are not possible to "win". It doesn't really matter how "strong" a cyclist one might be when they are staring at the barrel of a handgun.

So I surprised myself at what happened next. In a more subdued, but still slightly urgent voice, I said, "The next time you pass a bicycle, would you please slow down and give the rider some room!?" Making eye contact while she spoke, the driver replied, "I'm sorry, I will."

What a concept! I used the word please, and she used the word sorry...twice.

If you have a minute, skim the Pez article. I readily admit that I am no angel, and at one time or another I have been guilty in varying degrees of most of the actions the author describes. What might be different going forward is that I am now more aware of what actions I might be "guilty" of on the road, and just how they might be interpreted.

I ride a lot by myself, but I also lead a weekly group ride called the Hills of the West Coast, and a monthly Team HPC ride. We have all seen how the group mentality can take over when a gathering of cyclists hit the road, and how difficult it is at times to motivate riders in a group to be as responsible for their actions as they likely would be if they were riding solo.

Yes, it's difficult, but not impossible, and I am going to do my best to see if I can help our group rides go as smoothly as possible. I want to try and become even more aware than I am of how our actions are perceived. I'll try to lead by example, and if I don't, call me on it. Not that we have had many problems over the six years of the HOWC, but there is always room for improvement.

Not rolling through stops may cost us a few additional seconds on top of our 4+ hour rides, but we are not really in a hurry, are we? After all, we are out riding our bikes. A little more time together might be a good thing.

5-24-09 Hills of the West Coast Ride Report

Miles: 74.5 Climbing: 4000’ Route: Downtown--Mercer Island--Honda Hill--Newport Way to Downtown Issaquah--Issaquah-Preston Trail to Highland on the Sammamish Plateau--Issaquah Fall City Rd.--Duthie Hill Rd. climb--202 North--Ames Lake Rd. climb--Carnation Farm Rd.--203 to Carnation--Tolt Hill Rd. to West Snoqualmie River Rd.--40th St. SE climb--Flying Wheels Route to E. Lake Sammamish--Issaquah--W. Lake Sammamish Parkway--Trail on north frontage of I-90--Eastgate Park and Ride--Mercer Island--Downtown

We have a new “standard” HOWC route to add to the many routes we have deployed over the years! For six years now, I have been looking to have a longer ride option to the north that doesn’t involve riding to Edmonds one way or another. Generally, we like to return with the wind at our backs, and that means mostly riding to the north during summer’s fair weather breezes.

I have never really considered the option of taking the HOWC out to Snoqualmie Valley, due to the lack of a safe and fun way to climb up to the Sammamish Plateau. With the addition of the Issaquah-Preston trail that parallels I-90 before connecting with Highland, we now have that option. Today’s route makes for a longish day on the HOWC, but the opinion of the route quality amongst our 11 Memorial Day weekend riders seemed universally positive. There is an option to shorten the mileage by cutting out Carnation Farm Rd., but those of you who have ridden Flying Wheels know that this is a great road.

Despite having only five “significant” climbs, we managed 4000’ of climbing, and we had only a few short sections of any traffic at all, and during those sections we always seemed to have a decent or better shoulder. We could always "toughen up" today's route with a climb up Squak on the way out, or a trip over Cougar on the return.

We had an out of town guest from West Texas. As we rode into a 10-15 mph headwind at one point, Bill commented that it’s not even a breeze in West Texas until it gets to 25mph. He also mentioned that the climbs we referred to as “hills” were all mountains to him.

Our second woman rider of the year (well, actually of the last 3-4 years) made the ride, and Rachel was a solid, smooth, and safe cyclist. Rachel is an MD, and it’s always nice to have a Doc (and maybe a lawyer?) along on the ride.

We had a few riders dip into the Hurt Locker late in the ride, but everyone did great, and waiting time was minimal. Thanks to all who helped share the work on the front of the ride.

I felt really good today, and I hope my “timing” is good. Starting with the June 7th ride, we go to “Super Strenuous”, and likely all hell will break loose. We shift it up a gear or two, and in general we go pretty darn hard.

I hope to see you on the road.