VT 200k

I certainly got my money’s worth on the VT 200k. 130 miles, 12.5 hours. A bit slower than I had hoped and planned – but I had a strong first half until something went awry with food intake and stomach. My plan was to ride a stronger second half – the route had the big climbing out of the way by Bristol in the first 40 miles. After the midway point I bloated up and had a hard time taking in water and fuel. I suspect it was some fructose in a bottle of juice I drank at the midway point. I struggled on – reduced to a pretty slow pace over any elevation change – but it was beautiful day to spend on the bike. Early in the year for me too, to take on more than a century in one sitting.

We had 9 starters, and I’ve yet to verify brevet cards – but I’m fairly certain we had 7 finishers. We had 1 DNF due to mechanical, and Greg turned around somewhere after the first control as he was having no fun climbing after a weeks worth of late nights getting a large project finished up.

I took a total of 2 photos, nothing really worth posting other than the line of cyclists at our first control, and a shot of the mountains from the top of any number of ridgelines we crossed. There were ample photo opportunities on the inbound leg – but I kept my head down and the pedals turning.

Soma Love

First ride on the Soma since just after the Pugsley arrived. Swapped bars, dropped the stem, pulled a used saddle from the OSH. Running fixed 32×17 at the moment. Nokians are still on – which helped in the woods this morning. I need to shorten the cables – I swapped from the Jones Titec back to the Soma Odin bar. Great morning to spin easy – the VT 200k is this Saturday, so I’ve been lazy all week.

Curious Beast

Not sure what to make of this beast. It looks well ridden and well loved, and that is the most important thing.

Trek 660 with a carbon fork. 1×9(?) drivetrain. Mountain bike shifter pod. Looks like old brake levers with the cable run under the bar tape.

Spring Dirt

Took off with Wil to Richmond for the first leg of his 200k pre-ride and course check. Met Greg for some dirt climbing. Wes White Hill, East Road and Taft Road in Huntington, then a sloppy ride down Dugway above the Huntington Gorge. Brutal cold headwind coming back north and east. I finished with ~50, steep climbing up Wes White and East Road. Firm dirt to start, sloppy to finish.

Met some folks taking the pets out for a stroll…

Good day out. Tough start, my quads were pretty sore from Friday yoga. After a caffeine break and some warm sun things got better. Blue blue sky and sun today… aside from the wind – perfect.