A Good Idea at the Time

The past week has been sort of a scramble of riding when I can and making sure everything is dialed in for the Cohutta. I had to work at the RZO on saturday and couldn't get away, so I was only able to squeeze in a short ride. It was a good workout though, as the wind in south knoxville was ridiculous. Sunday's ride started as the Tom Floyd road ride, but the combination of 45 degree weather, wind, and rain had everybody questioning the route. After some indecision upon reaching Walland, Jay Nevans and I headed on out to Weirs Valley and came back down Metcalfe. We got back to Tom's house after about 95 miles. It was a good ride in spite of the rain and cold, as I got to ride some roads I don't normally hit. I like how I can now complain about the "miserable cold" of 45 degrees when I would have killed for 45 degrees a month or so ago...

I'm most of the way through getting my Cohutta gear ready. I tend to travel pretty light, so this is probably most everything except for some extra civilian clothes. I'm excited to be riding the Rig for the first time in a longer event. I finally got my gearing switched over to the 20, but not without a bit of a struggle. Due to some shoddy manufacturing (I mean, WTF, WTB), I had to file the edges of the teeth for the chain to clear smoothly. I usually try to refrain from applying my ghetto engineering skills to my bikes, but sometimes there isn't a choice. But after a shakedown ride at the ridge last night, everything seems to running smoothly. I think the 20 will be a good choice. We'll see after 100 miles anyways. Tires have been swapped to the Dry-X, which will be rolling nice and fast on the fireroads. The 100 mile format is new to me, and is going to be interesting. The distance is just another day at the office, but the drop format is going to require some planning. I'm used to having total control over what I drink/eat every hour, and with the lap races mechanicals are not as much of a worry. So I'll be carrying a little more than I usually do, and hoping I space my drops correctly to have enough to drink.

Apparently, I am a sucker for free stuff. I was going through my box o gels and things, and found 16 packets of the trial size endurolytes... Kind of ridiculous...