Push

Pushing myself out the door, lots of snow tonight, foot plus. I
wasn't going to do anything to open for tomorrow, it's going to be
one of those days. Bags are ready, mud, snow...oh yeah, real cross.

Up

More ghosts at 5 am. Good news is: THIS hopefully more next year. Waking up to a few more inches of fresh snow will make the commute that much nicer today, the silent glide through the path, car-free, poach a little cream, good day to come. Two hours in the snow today will feel good, better than not. I understand the where it fits now, mix the different drinks and put it out on a platter.

Rough

When intervals are on the menu it a little easier if the weather sucks. It snowed all day, I felt like I was doing it when some people weren't up for it. Not tough, just a bit rough, big difference. I got in the work, now I can enjoy my Deschutes I'm lucky, good reward for good work. Nothing too heroic like Hinault at the 1980 Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Light snow but only 50k. I wish I had that drive at 18 or 19, might have been different, I could have been a rouleur for one of the big guns.

Not mine

I don't think they were that close, but at times I thought for sure any point, any spot like on the steep hike a bike out of a gully that I might end up with a big cat on my head. Tuesday afternoon, most people are working, the lions are eating, me!

I'm no expert on pumas, but I think this is one of his tracks. I had the feeling, being watched, he may have seen me, I wanted to see him. I like that, reminded me of surfing alone early in morning or just before sunset, enjoying being out there, knowing I wasn't on top of the food chain.

Mid-fall rides that aren't available at home, but perfect elsewhere. The trail was perfect, hiding in the brush, rolling over the gulches and under the cats dinner eye.

I don't think they were that close, but at times I thought for sure any point, any spot on the steep hike a bike out of a gully that I might end up with a big cat on my head. Tuesday afternoon, most people are working, the lions are eating, me!

Cover

The snow has me closed off from the dirt, the road is left. Going
lower to be warm, piece it all together. One is all you need. The
focus comes out of the blur, feeling the fitness arrive just in time.
Too much coffee to think more clear than that, maybe wasn't the best
idea. Paying the price for laziness on Sunday, yesterday's ride was
too hard for what it was. Gummy after two days on the mtb and one day
off, shit lingering in the legs to make for a rough day.

Beetles

IMG_2772.JPG
More trees come down, the forests will grow back, if not the trails
will be ribbons in a clearing. This picture is from last week before the snow covered all of the fresh stumps.

Ready, aim

A foot of snow had power and internet down all day yesterday and mid day today before the internet was back on. Trying to fire the furnace enough to draw on the motivation, skipping races is good, sit on the form, wait to open up the system for when it counts, wasting is not an option this year. I only want one or two, the rest is up for grabs. Eggs in a single basket. Nothing more than stripes. Last year was different, this season it's a rifle, not a shotgun. As bad as it looked, it was warmer than last week, stopping mid way to shed wasn't something common, warm and slushy. Good to be out better to be warm. I was.

Do Work

Leaving the house it didn't look too promising, traveling too light to be warm going easy or slow was part of the program. I was supposed to do work, no playing around, mucking about wasn't part of the program. Darron met me on the Blue Shiver trail, more climbing on the way up the ski area side trails. Now all I want is Sushi, nothing else sounds good, at all. Darron was far more bundled, I hope he got home before the snow rolled in, I think Brian is hungry for Sushi too, I wonder if that's how we met. The bright side is I don't get fat and he gets to eat mostly organic, hormone free food. Symbiotic I think is the name for that. The legs were good and the mtb was perfect as always. Fisher has the niner dialed, all season the Ferrous hasn't disappointed. I did the work it needed before the ride, I was going to take a picture of the EBB but I was ashamed of how dirty it was. 10 minutes of cleaning with Simple Green and a rag had it better than it was but still, I didn't need to wait that long to work on it. A fresh front tire to replace the one that flatted yesterday. All made the ride better, breaking in fresh rubber on a quiet machine, 10x quieter than yesterday. Perfect set up for the winter rides, good rubber set up for the long days coming through. I wish I had a lab to work on the bikes in. Instead I take the warmest part of the day and do the work in the driveway.

Meals

Flumes at breakfast, Peaks at lunch and Witch for dinner. Good work on great trails. Colder starts are tough but dry trails make it that much easier. Heat up the furnace and run it all day. Brett brought along a new belt to try out. Mmmmmm fresh stuff is always nice.

Listen

No racing this weekend, the last time maybe on the trails up above 10,000 feet, since there is no chasing of the points for any overall series I don't have anywhere to go but my friendly neighborhood singletrack. No need to drive that far for a weekend better spent at home. Get the work done that is prescribed, put it together for the fall final. About a third of the way thru cx season and the form is building, 5 races, 3 were good, only one really showed the potential. I hear the sound of Kansas. Listening. Too much in the head today, not enough sleep, the 4 a.m. wake up wasn't my idea, ran with it anyway. Putting in the pieces I didn't work in the days before the, puzzle fits.