Lab Rat

That's what my life has been. One big old science project on myself to see what kind of crap I can take and just how far I can push myself before I crack and crawl off into a dark corner to sit alone in a puddle of my own urine, sobbing uncontrollably

um...........

I digress.

Today's experiment: singlespeed road bike in a group environment. I took my SSRB to the Thursday road ride that I usually go on to see how well I would hang in a group. The route includes a few rolling hills and the 2 mile climb of Buffalo Mtn towards the end. I started off well and was doing fine until we got into some flats and I got unceremoniously dropped. I was spinning to beat the band but my anemic 42X16 gearing just wasn't good enough to hang. Ah, I expected it. I thought I'd hang in longer than I did though. I just can't (yet) spin that damn fast. I am good to about 120 rpm and for relatively short bursts. I can't do that for miles and miles. In mountain bike racing you never have to spin that much, that long.

After a stop to adjust my rear wheel that had slipped and was rubbing, I took a short cut and caught back up with some of the group just before the climb up Buffalo. The climb actually was easy compared to the flat stuff.

I don't know that I 'll do that again in a group. Um on second thought, yeah I'll do it again, I'll just know better what to expect. Before I was a mountain bike racer, I was a decent road racer and I'll never not be a road racer by heart. You throw me on the streets (or trails) with two or more others and it ends up being a race. To be any different would be like trying to teach a cat to not chase mice. I just have to remember that and not expect to be in the same place on my singlespeed as I would be on my regular road bike.

It's all good though. One thing is certain, riding a singlespeed on the road is great training for racing one off road and that's all that I really care about. With the Cohutta 100 coming up in about 4 weeks, I have only about 3 to gain more fitness. It's crunch time.

Even though the Cohutta is a "C" priority race for me, I still want to finish well.

Gotta be fit.