A lovely Road Ride on a Cool Summer's Night

50 mile road ride yesterday an hour before sunset. Around 3.5 hours with some good stout climbs, but mostly flat terrain.

Threw the road wheels on my FRO and headed up towards Hemet, eventually making my way to Sage Road.

The weather was fantastic! Mild winds, cool temps, even traffic was nice. Sometimes I consider traffic to be apart of the day's weather.

This ride starts out with a nice out-of-the-saddle climb to get the legs warmed right up.

I like it just fine.

I expected to finish well into the night, so the MiNewt and my most favorite white arm-warmers (Shela-moon, yo) were on the evenings gear
list.

Skipping the Idyllwild Spring Challenge proved to be, well, a challenge for me. I was so wishy washy about this decision.
I mean, this is a local race, on my "home" turf, and the course is among the finest around. Yet, the whole season has been modified for one purpose alone, which is to get to Flagstaff and set-up there.

So I saved the money. A good decision in the end, I stuck to the game plan. Besides, it's the Whiskey 50 Proof in Prescott, AZ this weekend.
Plenty of climbing, singletrack, and Whiskey to satisfy.

The rest of the Factory XC Team had an amazing weekend, claiming podium pots and cash prizes in both the women's and men's elite field! Congradulations Chrissy, Denton and Rob!

This weekend Chrissy raced on a Spider FRO that built up to 22lbs with full XTR and new protoype ITS "Lite" System 2 Tyres. Jason wieghed them in at around 480grams. Pretty rad!

There is a section of this route that I bypass due to very unfavorable road conditions, which leads out to some country back-roads.

A lot of these roads however are being aggressively developed.
Soon even the connecters won't exist.

You and I, both riders passionate about our sport,
can make a difference.

For just a penny a day,
this country back-road will live to be blown up by another gust of wind,
become bogged out by next El Nino, and remain the bypass for future cyclists like you, your child, your brother, mother, and that morning jogg with Marmu 'cause it's just too darn hot to run at noon.

Adopt today.

Oh yes, for just half a penny a day, you can adopt an endurance cyclist, like Dave here. Look at that pathetic face. Do you see how desperate this poor man is? Make a difference, adopt today.

...Anyway, the ride was awesome. The near new moon demanded attention on the descents. The MiNewt's a great light, but at higher velocities a 5watt LED reaches its limits quick like. Went well though, I'll keep riding with it. However, on really windy courses, I think I would opt for a bit more fire power and mount an HID to the helmet.

Around 9:15pm, approximately 15 miles from home, I started getting really cold.
To build up heat, I rode above tempo all the way back.

It was so good too! Didn't plan to put that kind of intensity on this particular ride, but man, I felt so strong! It's a nice feeling when you summon strength and power, and your body is able to answer it. I wish it could be like that all the time. Don't we all. Deep down, I believe it is mental...we all have our blocks

The evening ended with about an hour of stretching and yoga asanas, protien, dinner, and an assortment of vitamins.

Tonight, it's an easy spin on the trainer in front of the computer watching none other than The Trplets of Belleville.