Progress

 Road Miles

Monday night was a ride up the "Old Snow Basin Road" - a nice climb in the evening when it is otherwise hot.  The old road isn't what it used to be, but still is a place I enjoy from time to time.  The top section from Art Nord Drive to the ski resort is not open to motor traffic anymore.  On top of that, it is pretty hammered.  Kind of a bummer, but still suitable for an evening grind.

Tuesday was dirt night - again, with a followup of classical Tabatas.  Wednesday just didn't happen, with work and other commitments.  A good excuse to save up for this morning.

Better late than never, but it was time to head for Monte.  I had considered going to East Canyon, but the forecast called for very warm temps in the afternoon - which is not a good idea with that ride.  A little later on the start than I had planned, but I was still in a pretty good spot most of the way up.  The traffic was unbelievable today.  It really looked like a holiday weekend, which is very unusual for this road. Once you get out of South Fork Canyon, traffic is easy to deal with - most of the time.

Fatigue!

This was the first time I went over four hours in a single ride this season.  Kind of late in the year for that, but here we are.  As a result, posture fatigue was "a thing".  This will take a little getting used to, but I've also got to stretch these out to six and eight hour rides before too long.  Getting to the camp ground I used three bottles of stuff.  I've had trips all the way into Woodruff before were I didn't use two complete bottles.  Today was hot, with a ton of exposure.  With three full bottles out of the camp ground, I was fighting a stiff headwind all the way down.  Of course this was between side gusts and direct head-on stuff, that simply made it a bear to get down.  By Red Cliff, it was like a blast-furnace.  By the time I got into Huntsville, I was cooked and stiff.  The quads were smoked and was also knotted in the neck and shoulders.  That was a good place to stop - for today.

Monte Cristo

Monte has always been a place that takes me back.  It is without a doubt, the hardest stuff I ride all year - especially when I go all the way to Woodruf and back.  The climbs are long, steep and at some pretty serious altitude. There is literally no better training ride than this. As familiar as I am with this road, today just seemed a little.......different.  It didn't just feel like home, like it always has in the past.  I know it as well as any road I ride and can tell you tales of many things going back well over forty years.  It was almost like I didn't belong there anymore - empty. Still, Monte is the most honest friend you'll have. The truth may hurt, but it will tell you how bad off you really are.  Sometimes that truth is hard to take, but it is real.  And then there are those days like today, where it punishes you all the way down - just because.

I need to get my "legs" capable of pulling off Woodruf very soon.  We'll see what the next few days look like.

LOTOJA Mods

Seeing the radio guys emails gives me a really good idea of what is happening up on the course.  Major changes in a couple of the feed zones, with some floating stuff, as well as two separate finish lines.  The Sportive riders will finish at the high school. The racers still go all the way to Teton Village - as before.  This will also shave miles off the Sportive course, which was 207 last year.  I'm not what that course will look like this year at the front end.  The road out of Hoeback is also a mess.  It sounds like they are taking us off that main road and on to something else.  Man, this is going to be different.

I watched the latest from Rick Beato the other night.  It was another of his "What makes this song great?" sessions.  That guy knows his stuff.  Still, that stupid thing was in my head most of the ride today - mainly the Red Shea parts.  Funny how I can isolate tracks in my mind like that - without listening at the same time.  Still, not a Rick Beato by any measure.

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Ride HARD!