Macho

Productive Sunday

Crystal Lake Crit

Tour de Crystal Lake

Afternoon

Crit race in the morning, century in the afternoon.

The crit went pretty well, I am still learning this road race thing.  It all comes down to the end, and if your not in position to strike it doesn't matter how strong you are.  I ended up 4th in Cat 5, I had a strategy to win, but as usual I grew impatient and took off to early.  I do love that style of racing, diving into the corners, watching for the guy skidding across the road in front of you, then an all out close your eyes and sprint for your life at the end.

After the race, I didn't really feel I got a full workout.  So I headed out with a goal of 100 miles, but I told myself if I fell short no big deal.  Luckily it was a beautiful day, and I kept a good pace so I felt fine the whole time.  I headed into Wisconsin and found some hills, and didn't have any route planned.  

I ended up finding some great roads that I will definitely be returning too and some decent hills.

Oh I forgot to mention, all on heavy ass a cross bike.

-David 

Pisgah National Forest Clawhammer

Before we headed south, I looked around online and found the "clawhammer."  It was incredibly difficult, and if you get the opportunity to go down that way I would highly recommend it.  I would not recommend taking a single speed though!

The trails were very eroded which made it extremely technical, as you can see in the first picture.  If I had gears, with one of those newer 40+ tooth rear cassettes, I could have ridden a lot more, but with the tall gearing I just couldn't maintain enough momentum to climb.

Even with the recent switch to single speed I still had a great time in the mountains.  I just parked on the side of a forest service road, rode for a bit until I took a right on the single track, then climbed and climbed and climbed.

I hung out at the top lookout for awhile, then headed back down.  Coming back was much easier then headed up.  My brakes were cooked by the time I got back.

My only complaint was I didn't spend enough time out there.

-David