Andrea and I plan on going out for a wintery trail ride at Hillside tomorrow morning. Hopefully the trail is still in great shape. It got a little warmer today, but not so much that the trail would get affected (I hope). I have little to know experience trail ridding in the snow so it should be interesting.
Andrea will be riding her Supercal FS and I will be taking out the new RIG on its maiden voyage. Every time I sit on the Rig it feels even better, but I will hold out judgment until I actually put it through its paces on the trail.
We plan on getting out just after the sun comes up. Hopefully the temps will remain mild over night, because I have a hard time staying warm when it is cold out. I will try to pust up later tomorrow with an update of the trail and the bike.
Later
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Training
Training is going really well for the 2008 season (So Far)
As stated earlier, my training focus has changed from last year. I am trying to be more realistic in terms of the time and energy I have to devote to training. Last year I trained too hard and tried to make too big of gains in the attempt to compete in the Expert class after moving up from sport. This effort left me felling tired and worn-out going into the races and I was not happy with my results. More importantly I was not having as much fun as I would have liked. It got to a point where I did not care if I raced or not, but I always enjoyed watching the other family members race.
This year the goal is to go into the races rested and refreshed both physically and mentally. In order to achieve this I have lowered the overall hours on the bike and plan my weeks to allow sufficient rest periods between critical workouts.
I have completed the first two weeks in the Build 1 phase and have one more week of increasing volume before a rest week with some testing. The first two weeks have gone really well. In general the legs are feeling really good and starting to feel fairly strong despite any significant intensity. My endurance has come back quickly and despite starting training almost 1.5 months later my efficiency during the endurance rides is ahead of last year. I was fairly consistent with the weight training during the Prep phase, but I have missed the last couple of weeks. I am having trouble working in the weight work (especially legs) and allowing enough recovery. I might see if I can work one good leg workout and two upper body workouts per week
This week coming up may be a little difficult because I need to find a way to get all the workouts in and we have company coming for Wyatts 5th birthday. I think I should be able to shift things around a little bit to make it work, but it may require getting up early for a ride or two
I hope everyone else is having a good start to their year.
As stated earlier, my training focus has changed from last year. I am trying to be more realistic in terms of the time and energy I have to devote to training. Last year I trained too hard and tried to make too big of gains in the attempt to compete in the Expert class after moving up from sport. This effort left me felling tired and worn-out going into the races and I was not happy with my results. More importantly I was not having as much fun as I would have liked. It got to a point where I did not care if I raced or not, but I always enjoyed watching the other family members race.
This year the goal is to go into the races rested and refreshed both physically and mentally. In order to achieve this I have lowered the overall hours on the bike and plan my weeks to allow sufficient rest periods between critical workouts.
I have completed the first two weeks in the Build 1 phase and have one more week of increasing volume before a rest week with some testing. The first two weeks have gone really well. In general the legs are feeling really good and starting to feel fairly strong despite any significant intensity. My endurance has come back quickly and despite starting training almost 1.5 months later my efficiency during the endurance rides is ahead of last year. I was fairly consistent with the weight training during the Prep phase, but I have missed the last couple of weeks. I am having trouble working in the weight work (especially legs) and allowing enough recovery. I might see if I can work one good leg workout and two upper body workouts per week
This week coming up may be a little difficult because I need to find a way to get all the workouts in and we have company coming for Wyatts 5th birthday. I think I should be able to shift things around a little bit to make it work, but it may require getting up early for a ride or two
I hope everyone else is having a good start to their year.
Monday, January 07, 2008
As Promised (but late) Pictures of the new Rig
2008 Gary Fisher Rig
It seems as though some people are a little impatient. I think it has to do with it being winter and wishing the weather was warm and the single track was dry. Anyway as I had promised here are some pictures of the new 2008 Fisher Rig. The bike doesn't have the "bling" factor of many of the new 29ers, but the build is a solid platform. The frame is all new for 08 and incorporates the new G2 geometry which is designed to offer quicker slow speed handling while preserving the beneficial traits of 29ers.
It seems as though some people are a little impatient. I think it has to do with it being winter and wishing the weather was warm and the single track was dry. Anyway as I had promised here are some pictures of the new 2008 Fisher Rig. The bike doesn't have the "bling" factor of many of the new 29ers, but the build is a solid platform. The frame is all new for 08 and incorporates the new G2 geometry which is designed to offer quicker slow speed handling while preserving the beneficial traits of 29ers.
Fork
The bike also comes stock with the new FOX F29RL fork which is fairly light and very stiff. At my weight, I will probably not notice the stiffness, but the fork is supposedly very plush and tracks extremely well. I will have to wait and see.
Drivetrain
The drivetrain is fairly straitforward. The crank is a single speed ISIS drive bontrager with a 32t aluminum chain ring with an aluminum bash guard. The rear cog is a 18t steel. The 32/18 gearing with 29" tires should work fairly well on many of the relatively flat trails but will be fairly tall for racing.
I am up in the air at this time if I am going to race this bike next year. The original plan was to just have a single speed to bring back some of the fun. To ride in its purest form.
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