My poor crotch is sore

Hey,

We finally got some great weather for a great couple of rides. On saturday Curtis and I had planned on meeting to head out on glenmore trail I think it turns into the #8. There was a slight hicup though. While I was adjusting my brakes I managed to strip the one screw or bolt(what ever you call it if it's an allen key needed) so I had to make a quick trip to Speed theory to get it fixed. They weren't busy at the time so ummmm I always forget his name. Not Greg(obviously) but the running guy, anyways he helped me fix the brake and I zipped over to Curtis's to get this Cervelo show on the road(we both ride cervelos).

We took his van since we could get both bikes in there, drove out to a residential area just off of sarcey and super close to Glenmore trail. The wind was absolutely PERFECT, it was a north wind so we got basically no head wind at all and the side wind was hardly noticeble. Mother Nature has been super nice to me this year, I can't remember a longer ride where I've had a bad wind. Weird cause last year all of my longer rides involved winds in the 40-50km ph.

Anyways we headed out, Curtis is a lil apprehensive as this is the first time outside on the TT bike, and he doesn't have much time outside on any type of road bike actually. So you can imagine the downhills were a little scary for him. But practice makes perfect and he was quite happy with how he progressed. He said later it was quite different, by the end of the ride he was a lot more relaxed descending. I joked with him that we'll have to drive him to the top of a hill over and over since he's a good climber but he still needs more confidence with the descending.

The first hour to Bragg creek went by pretty uneventful, the weather was perfect and no major mishaps other then Curtis almost hitting the ditch while wiping his nose. Maybe he needs some snot rocket lessons as well. ;) One thing I need to do is get another cage on my bike, I think Curtis would agree one just really sucks. With all the other stuff you have to carry along on long rides the extra water bottle having to go in the jersey pockets really sucks. Anyways we kept going into the low mountains up and down the hills. Curtis still quite tentative on the downhills but it's ok, I wouldn't want him to let loose untill he's confident enough to do so. Gotta ride with in your own limits. We kept the pace fairly easy, although that's really hard to do with climbs and other cyclists to chase down. Ok I admit I have a thing for chasing riders down, I'm sure others do too. We made it to Elbow falls and fyi the road is still closed, till May long weekend if anyone wants to drive out there and ride the open highway. We didn't stop long here since we had got the 2 hour mark and headed back.

At Bragg creek we made another lil pitstop where one roadie wanted to purchase one of my spares. Not sure why anyone would ride to Bragg creek with no spares/tools. Oh well everyone makes mistakes, hopefully he will know for next time. When I got out my older spare I realized that it was kaput, the valve had popped out and was useless leaving me with only one spare between the two of us. So I was quite reluctant to give him our last spare. He was ok with that and proceeded to ride all the way to calgary on a flat in the back. He actually made good time too, must have been a good rider.

So we kept going and with about 2-3 k left to go Curtis double flatted. I only had one spare(he will be getting some of his own stuff for the next ride, right Curtis?? :)) The pavement was really smooth here so I suggested we just roll in. It was a good cooldown finish(ya right like 5km ph :P). So that made it a lil longer but w/e I just marked it as a 4 hour ride. Greg had only wanted 3-3.5 but I didn't know he sent it the night before so I missed that and rode extra. OOOPS Sorry IG.

So yesterday I went out and the wind was actually at 0 km ph. What a day for a ride. The schedule called for 2 hours at an easy pace. So I kept the effort down, no hr monitor though I rode on PE. At the 1 hour mark I was close to Strathmore so I decided to finish it up. Sorry Greg, I rode a lil extra sunday too. But I felt sooo good except for my raw crotchal area, but that doesn't count. Such a good feeling, I was aerobic and did the 45km part in 1:15, low effort and fyi that's 5 hour Ironman pace!!!! I don't want to get too excited, there was no wind, but hey I have lots of time. I have a really good feeling about my Ironman bike for this year. :) Coming back was a touch slower as my crotch was burning and raw so I had to sit up a bit, I took the time to enjoy the sunshine. That was 2:40

So with the new bike that's 3 rides 270km. One more ride today and I can take a much needed cycling break. I'm looking forward to my first run tomorrow. woooooooooooo my calf is like 90% maybe better. Oh and those 3 rides were all on my new TT bike. Hows that for breaking her in. I'm feeling soooo fit on the bike, I love it.

Oh I need to figure out exactly what effort the MAP intervals effort should be at. If any of you know, could you explain it for me? Greg hasn't emailed me back yet. The workout is 2x 5x 2min on 2 min off.

Sounds like you guys all had great weekends as well. Curtis(my workout buddy and fellow IMC racer) is getting really fit and felt great after our long ride on saturday. Hopefully he can do a bunch more with me and he should be ready to rock for IMC. Good job Curtis, keep it up. :) Cheers,

Darryl