Towards my preparation for the Marin Mountains 200k, I pre-rode the second half of the course today, which was really fun. The highlights were the Inverness Ridge Trail and Bolinas Ridge Trail and the near perfect weather. It ended up being just a hair over 100 miles, with over 8000 feet of climbing. I'm pretty tired. I don't think I've ever done a solo century before, except doing a few 200k permanents.
Strava does monthly distance challenges and a monthly climbing challenges. You can earn "badges" that document your accomplishments. I've been joining those challenges during this time off of work. As a fleeting moment of glory, as of right now, I'm 19th in the United States for climbing in October, out of 11,000 American Strava users who have joined this challenge. That won't last long as I head back to work, but it's fun seeing my name on a leaderboard. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, Ca On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 4:40:30 PM UTC-7, Bill Lindsay wrote: > > It's been worth it on many levels. Maybe on more levels than I expected. > > - It's been worth it from a cycling/fitness perspective. I'm getting a lot > stronger, and a lot faster. > - I'm feeling prepared for the Marin Mountains 200k, which as far as I can > tell, might be the hardest 200k brevet on the RUSA calendar. > - I'm feeling prepared for the 2018 Mountain bike racing season, even > though I'm not one of the racers. Maybe I'll ride as a sweeper at the > races. Most of "my" racers follow me on Strava and/or Instagram and I hope > my work inspires them to work. > - I'm seeing weight loss results. There's a scale at the office that > measures your weight and estimates your body composition from electrical > impulses through your feet. At the beginning of this, I was 180lbs, 25% > body fat. I'm excited to weigh in next Tuesday. I haven't stepped on a > scale, but I see how I look different in the mirror and I see how tight > clothes fit. I've made dietary tweaks in addition to my riding to get this > done. I'm shooting for <165lbs, 15% body fat, which would be awesome. At > that point, I'm an athlete, not just a mechanic. > - I'm considering continuing this training to go for an SR Series in 2018, > with a potential outcome of taking a run at PBP 2019. > - I've done several very memorable rides, including revisiting some rides > that I hadn't done in many years. > - I'm very fond of all the bikes in my stable, and so far none of the > bikes have disappointed. The two biggest upside surprises have been my > Rosco Bubbe step through and my Gunnar Double-speed. The Rosco Bubbe kicks > ass, and has now completely filled the spot I was holding for a 650B > Atlantis. I can't think of anything I could have done on a 650B Atlantis > that I won't be able to do with my Rosco Bubbe 650B step through. I've > always viewed my Gunnar two-speed single speed as my most pointless bike. > I live on a steep hill in a very hilly area, what do I need with a bike > without derailers? Now that I'm kind of fit, I can power up a lot more > hills than I could have a couple months ago. I have set a couple Strava > Personal Records (PR) in the lower gear, and it's taking shape in my mind > as a legitimate training tool. > - I've gotten a great sneak peek at retirement (I'm 48), and I have > absolutely no worries that there will be plenty to occupy me when I've > given up work for good. I'll try to pull in the date as much as I can. > - It's been essentially 100% solo, and I'm still really good at keeping > myself company. Capping it off with an SFR event will give me a taste of > the camaraderie part. I hope I'm friendly enough. :-/ > > Bill Lindsay > El Cerrito, CA > >> >> So has it been worth it? And did any special favorites among the many >> emerge? (Or was it a case of "Love the One You're With"?) >> >> -- >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
