Salem Lake I

I have started to get a little more serious with my preparation for Southern X and purchased a new HRM to keep track of my progress and to quantify some data to correspond with my feeling of suck.

Wanting to start on a regimen of getting some trail miles in, I hit the Salem Lake loop over the past weekend. Weather has been the new mystery factor of late, so I had multiple layers at my disposal. It was a sunny 38 degrees and I went on the lighter side, but brought a couple different head/face cover options just to try them out. I started out with a cycling cap and a headband around it, covering my ears. That seemed to work well. Also, I broke in the new Answer mountain bike shoes with my inserts in them. A little snug, but not at all bad.

On my first loop around was going well. I was mindful of my line and avoiding the deeper, tire clutching sludge. It was that too-dry oatmeal kind of glop. I was doing alright until I was wishing a walker good morning and missed a transition to the firmer ground. As these things happen, I did this long, drawn out, stumbling hop that ended up with me on the ground and the bike on me. The man, walked over to see if I was okay, but I waved him off with a weak smile and was back on the bike. No worries, a few scrapes on my knee showed up, but nothing to squawk about. I paid a little more attention from there on out.

Dope.

The ride was comfortable and, at times, even brisk. The weather wasn’t a problem after the first loop, so I took off my headband, leaving the cap to manage the job. It didn’t take long for me to regret that decision and I’ve come to equate the headband as vital to a colder ride as the vest. I intend on bringing both to Georgia.
Also, I brought the .mp3 player and had reggae tunes playing throughout the ride. The headband kept the earpiece in. I wear headphones riding the same way I clip in for CX – one in and one out. I guess half aware of my surrounding is sufficient. Anyway, I realized that I would be bringing my player to Southern X; not for the CX parts, but definitely for the 30 miles in between.

The second loop went without a hitch and that gave me 14 trail miles in about 75 minutes. While there wasn’t significant climbing, it made me comfortable to know I was running ahead of the 10mph pace. I had tested my peak flow rate before and after riding and was mildly pleased. I started with a chest bursting 750 and finished around 530, which became 580 within 30 minutes. My heartrate monitor, beeping off and on as I rose above target training zones, topped at 179, which is about as high as I’ve ever seen my heart rate. As I am wont to do, I now have a baseline series from which to improve.


Oatmeal glop drying on the bike.