Rob Ballou

Moving forward

After my half-marathon was cancelled, I decided to concentrate the sights on two-wheels instead of two-feet. So I began plotting: it's the end of the road season and there are a few mountain events left on the calendar. So, I have my first two MTB events that I'm going to try: a short dirt-crit and a 6 hour solo.

With that in mind, I got much saddle time this weekend:

• Shirtripper and Bathew agreed to heading out to St. Chuck for some mountain time. Little did they know, I hadn't really calculated the distance we were going to ride. They ended up doing a truly epic job on a 23 mile stint through single-track and rail trail.
• The next morning I took off for Creve Coeur for the St. Louis Meetup's TDF Creve Coeur. This event was originally planned near the actual TDF, but got pushed back. Anyway, I had planned on a 50-miler, but it turned into a monster 36-mile with some Hills (with a capital H). I discovered I have an ok burst of speed, but just can't keep it going for longer sprints. And I suck on the hills (in retrospect, I did hammer one hill, only to find that it wasn't a KOM!), but that's not a big surprise. First sprint of the day was an interesting one because it kicked out a bit early and a front group (with a few 1/2 guys that raced in St. Gen on Saturday) ripped open a gap, that I closed but essentially dripped my power to nothing. Then we took a steep hill (rough calc: 11% grade, about 193 foot climb) for KOM points. I was reserved to the middle of the pack on this one. On the final descent back to the lake, I found myself in five-spot behind the ride leader (who pulled pretty much the entire thing), two young 1/2s, and another speedy guy. At the base of the descent, the 1/2's made a gap like it was nothing. I sucked past the other two and tried to bridge. I passed the lead out rider after he dropped off and still hammered, but then looking at the distance I called it a day, got passed and ended up fourth!
• Having bought a new bike this past week, I wanted to get some more mountain time, so I hit up CWood in the evening. While I can't say I was happy with a couple things on the ride (still having trouble climbing Justin's), it was great training ride. Have to say, an evening ride on a Sunday > a mid-morning ride on Sunday at the park. A few other bikes out, saw one or two hikers, but not the usual mob that usually takes to the trails. The lower half of the park is still closed due to flooding.

We'll see if I have legs in the morning for a commute or if it's going to be a lazy-drive-to-work-day.

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