Weekend of Riding = (S * 4) Squared

This weekend’s riding binge was all about the S’s:

(Sunny * Six Hours * Singlespeed * Saturday)*(Sunny * Six Hours * Singlespeed * Sunday)

 Ok, I am a bit sore and I was about as sharp as a bowling ball until I had three cups of coffee today. But as I think back to the blur of the weekend, I just smile. I had a great date night with M and I rode the shit out of my singlespeed on some sweet trails in great weather.

Saturday's route is in yellow with Sunday's route in red, overlapping in many places

 Why the Singlespeed binge? We are T-minus three weeks from Mesa Verde baby! Coach LW and I traded emails mid-week and she thought it would be a good idea to spend some quality time on the Selma SS to “toughen up” the body before Mesa Verde. That LW, she is so wise. I definitely discovered some places that need a little toughening. Either my hands are soft from a lack of dirt time or my Ergon grips are out of adjustment because I have a nasty hotspot on my right hand from a million transitions between the grips and the bar ends over the weekend. This has never happened in the past but I have some time to heal up and figure it out. I had two key areas that I wanted to “test” this weekend: My lower back and my feet.

Lower Back
Before Saturday’s ride, I had M tape my lower back with SpiderTech’s Lower Back Spider. This is the first Kinesio tape that I feel has helped take the edge off of my lower back pain and the application of the pre-cut spider is simple. I am encouraged and plan to continue to experiment more with it. I had some discomfort but it never escalated as it often does when I am riding hard.
 

The Spidertech Lower Back Spider.


Feet
I am pleased with how my feet felt after twelve hours of pounding the pedals on the singlespeed. I have had some serious hot foot issues in the past, especially in warm temps, and I think I am doing as much as I possibly can to eliminate the issue.

The three keys for me to have happy feet are:
1) WIDE shoes (In my opinion, Lake makes the widest production mountain bike shoe currently offered) My shoes are not as sexy as Shimanos or Sidis but happy feet are key.
2) Specialized Body Geometry foot beds with Metatarsal pad (Red)
3) Specialized Varus Shim (Orange)

Saturday's profile with the Hard Guy climb early in the ride

Sunday's profile with the 8th St. climb early and the Rocky Canyon Rd-to-Orchard Gulch climb later


I really need to take my camera out on some rides soon but I was on a mission this weekend.  Pics and video of sweet Boise singletrack coming soon.

I am listing my routes for each day mainly for my own future reference:

Saturday’s Route:  55.5 Miles, 8,781’ of Climbing

Home

Climb Bogus Basin Rd

Corrals Trail

Climb Hard Guy (Ugly on the 32 x 21)

Descend Hard Guy

Corrals to 8^th St.

Descend Moto Trail #4

Crestline

Climb Sidewinder

Fat Tire

Descend Freestone

Climb Three Bears (More ugliness on the 32 x 21)

Watchmans

Descend 5-Mile

Climb Rocky Canyon Road

Climb Orchard Gulch

Watchmans

Moto Trail #6 (I goofed and meant to take Three Bears but I improvised)

Descend Freestone

Fat Tire

Descend Sidewinder

Crestline

Climb Moto Trail #4 to 8^th St. (Even more ugliness on the 32 x 21 ‘cause now I am really tired)

Corrals to Bogus Basin Rd.

Descend Bogus Basin Road

Home

Sunday’s Route:  59 Miles, 8,119’ of Climbing

Home

Climb Bogus Basin Rd

Corrals Trail to 8^th St.

Climb 8^th St

Descend Scottie’s (Greatness!)

Corrals to 8^th St. (again)

Descend Moto Trail #4

Crestline

Climb Sidewinder

Fat Tire

Descend Freestone

Climb Three Bears

Shane’s Loop

Descend Buck’s

Descend Central Ridge

Climb Mtn Cove

Climb Military Reserve Connector

Crestline

Descend Red Cliffs

Red Fox

Home (Refill two water bottles, it was hot)

Red Fox

Golden Finch

Owl’s Roost

Kestrel

Crestline

Descend Military Reserve

Mtn Cove

Climb Three Bears

Shane’s to Rocky Canyon Rd.

Climb Rocky Canyon Rd

Climb Orchard Gulch

Descend 5-Mile to Watchmans

Watchmans

Descend Three Bears (made the correct turn today)

Shane’s

Descend Buck’s

Ridgecrest

Mtn Cove

Climb Military Reserve Connector

Crestline

Descend Hull (Woohoo!)

Red Fox

Home