Bike Vacation II

The second part of my bike vacation involved driving up to Oregon to join two buddies for Mountain Bike Oregon in Oakridge Oregon. This economically defunct logging town has been reinventing itself as a MTB destination for at least the last ten years and the work that they've put into it shows in the 300 or so miles of single track trails that they've developed. I dropped my car at Steamboat Inn and my pals picked me up there late on Thursday. We ate at the Inn and drove around to Oakridge, sharing two bottles of tasty sake on the drive. They had set up tents earlier in the day so it wasn't much of a hassle getting settled, though it was a short night as the heavy rain showers awoke me at 5:00 after only four or so hours sleep. MBO is a full service event with food and drinks included along with guides, shuttles and demo bikes if you want. the first day we opted for the fairly easy Middle Fork trail. This was rated a 2 out of 5 technically, but it was difficult enough for me as I hadn't been on a mountain bike in 12 months. To say it was a shaky start would be an understatement, but I mostly kept the wheels under me and only collected one small scrape. I took it easy in the afternoon while my cohorts hit other trails. The next day we signed up for Alpine - known as the gem of this area. We resolved to take it mellow - bringing 3 liters of rose along with us didn't hurt. This was one of the nicest afternoons I've spent on a MTB. Truly this is one of the great rides. the sections through old growth Douglas Fir were truly amazing. We cruised this trail and then rode back to town and the campsite in 5 hours. That evening was the bike toss and pixie bike crits - much hilarity! The next morning we set out for the point to point back to Steamboat Inn and the Pinot Conference. This was basically a one hour warm up followed by a 2.5 hour climb, then a 45 minute downhill, and finally an hour slog into Steamboat. We were whipped by the end of it, but there's something satisfying about long point to point riding that no other type of riding provides.

bike vacation I

the first part of my bike vacation this year involved two rides with my brother in Napa. The first day we did the Mt. Veeder loop counterclockwise. My least favorite of the two options, but still a loop that I've done literally hundreds of times in the past, though I haven't done it much in the last 4-5 years. It was late afternoon and we went mellow the first easy 10 miles. We then hit the main climb and I did it tempo. It felt really good. It's funny how these very familiar roads can tell you exactly what kind of shape you're in. I even big ringed the last 50 meters - very unusual for me.
The next morning we did Atlas peak. This was an even better ride. Even though we got stopped for some road repair in the first section, my overall time was in the very low 50 minutes range. This is an excellent time for me on this climb. I believe my overall best time up this long climb even when I was racing in my 30s was in the high 40 minutes range.
Both of these days confirmed what I've felt - I'm on a good season. Now if I could only get my knees to quit complaining I'd be golden.

riding stale, watching fresh

July is the month I'm usually feeling a bit tired and stale on the bike. Moving into the new house with its seemingly endless to do list hasn't helped matters. The heavy load of chores has my knees and my back in a perpetual tenderness that makes going hard harder. I did have one of my best climbing days of the year last Sunday when I went up Santa Rosa Cr. Rd. at a solid pace, and was able to do much of it seated. It also took me three full days to recover from this 5+ hour ride.
July is also Tour de France. Watching the top pros struggle day after day for three weeks offers inspiration to counteract the mid summer blues. Today's stage 11 with Rolland winning after a long break, and all the GC contenders attacking Wiggins was a spectacular day of spectating. It has me feeling keen to get on the bike later this afternoon. Nibali's multiple attacks were particularly inspiring as was Froome's strength. While I'll never even for a moment have the strength of these guys, the riding I do at least allows me to appreciate their greatness at a deep level.