The good legs showed up today, powering me there and back as if the Enigma had a motor (albeit a small one) attached. Yesterday's low mileage might have helped, but then I slept terribly and expected the two factors to cancel each other out. I believe I've got some idea how to combine nutrition, hydration and training to avoid the dreaded "dead legs" but I'm clueless when it comes to predicting, far less programming great legs. By the way the massive pins in the photo belong to a thirty-foot-tall giant intimidating customers at a local transmission shop.
Tomorrow I'm heading up to Rapha Portland to reprise the Dutch Canyon ride with Slate, Daniel and hopefully Carey if she's feeling better. I sure hope I've not peaked a day early ;-)
San Jose is having that Indian Summer I'd asked for after all. The next ten days are forecast to be sunny and warm. Since this is cross season in Portland, sunshine is not on the menu for tomorrow. Instead we've ordered up steady rain the better to test the foul weather performance of the Classic Softshell I plan to wear.
Today you can see I got away with the purple Long Sleeve Jersey over short sleeve Base Layer and Touring Shorts over bibs. At the risk of repeating myself I've taken to wearing the Touring Shorts four out of five work days a week. They're a commuting staple, accented with a Velodramatic "V" on the left leg for a bit of flash. I've got two pairs (I picked up the second at an attractive end of summer price) and rotate them. I managed to separate the seam in the backside of the first pair after many months of heavy rotation and one unfortunately awkward crouch. This was easily remedied by two minutes on Juli's sewing machine.
A bit of packing are all that stands between me and sleep. Dutch Canyon awaits. Report late tomorrow as I get back at 10:30 pm.
6 Comments
Woah. Michael I am still enjoying the 30 days and the photography, thank your wife and congratulate her by the way, but boy do you wear a lot of clothing on the bike. I just used the internet to find out that 70deg F is about 20 Celsius, this morning we had similar weather. It was 18 Celsius and sunny when I left at 5am. I was (only) wearing Lightweight Jersey, Rapha Bibs, Rapha socks and their Grand Tour gloves.
Maybe 20 Celsius feels different up there above the equator? Haha.
Don’t get me wrong though, if it’s whats needed to look good on the bike, then that is all that matters.
Scott.
Scott,
I’ll pass on the kudos to Juli, she’s been a huge part of this. As for the relative amount of clothing I’m wearing I’d attribute it to three factors.
One – the wind chill at an average of 28-30 mph is significant (kidding 😉
Two – when you’re in your early twenties (guessing) you just run hotter, by the time you get to the forties the heating doesn’t work as well, at least mine doesn’t
Three – when I arrive at work drenched in sweat folks think I rode at 28-30 mph
Hello:
I absolutely adore your site. Thanks for sharing your spin on cycling both through your words and photos. I was recently on a “cross-centric” ride with Aaron Erbeck and we had a chat about the site. Both of us shook our heads at “The Tab” and agreed the airbrush helmet takes the cake. Rapha should be proud.
Been looking at the Classic Softshell for some time now but have not had the chance to try one on. Was hoping you could shed some light on the fit. 5,9″ 165, fairly broad shoulders…31/32 inch waist.
Hopefully, your travels will find you in Seattle in the near future.
all my best,
jl.clark
JL,
You reminded me I need to work that helmet into at least one post this month. It was madness but it provided a good vehicle early on in the life of Velodramatic. Aaron is a great guy.
I think you sound like a medium to me. I’m a bit bigger 5’9″ 182 with a 34″ waist and fairly broad shoulders too. Large fits me perfectly. You can always exchange sizes if the fit isn’t right.
I’m not sure about bike shops in Seattle carrying Rapha, do you want me to check with the guys? Always nice if you can go try one on.
::M