1/25/99
Wow, long time since the last entry...
Training for this year's racing season has started about a month and a half ago. I'm not commuting to school on the bike as much as I was last year, but I am trying to keep up the weightlifting in a more consistant manner. Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Lan has to get to school early on those days, so it all works out.
I'm not sure how the weather will be this year. If you believe the El Nino/La Nina thing, the weather should be extra rainy this year, although it hasn't been so far.
The team is getting quite large, with a bunch of new racers, and racers that have returned to racing after some time off. We are also changing our jerseys. Maybe this will also encourage new members.
I've been riding both weekends pretty steadily now. Saturday's ride started badly. I was riding to the meeting place on the Burke-Gilman trail next to the lake. I stopped to adjust my seat height, when the seat post binder bolt broke. Just like last year when I was adjusting the seat height while riding. I had to stand up and ride for a few more miles. Then I met up with the other riders, and I decided to pay Don Perry a visit, since his house isn't too far off the trail, and I knew he had other bikes where I can borrow the bolt from. Don wasn't going to ride on Saturday because of the weather, but after I borrowed the bolt from him, he decided to come out and ride.
The Sunday before, we went around Lake Washington counter-clockwise, with Juanita hill near the end of the ride. I was struggling a lot on the hill. This time, we went around clockwise, with the hill near the front of the ride. This was a lot better for me.
The rest of the ride was effortless, especially compared to the Sunday before. The weather even started to clear up. I felt so good after the end of the ride, I decided to try another 30 miles by myself, so that I would ride 100 miles in one day for the first time. I stayed mostly on flat areas, but it was a bit windy at times. I felt alright until I hit about 85 miles, and then I started to hurt. The last 6 miles home was especially bad, since it was uphill, and I was very, very tired. But I managed to make it.
This Sunday's ride was pretty uneventful, except for the crash. Don Perry misjudged some large traffic barrels (kind of like traffic cones, but the size of 50 gallon drums). He hit it pretty hard, but no major damage was done to him or his bike. I felt pretty good generally, especially after the 100 miles the previous day. I was aching at the beginning of the ride, but it wasn't much worse at the end. I was lagging on some of the hills, but near the end of the ride I wasn't so bad.