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Tuesday, February 4

Winter Shart Tarck... pre-dumbles

I had two options for a ride presented to me for Saturday, with my decision pending Friday evening.  I'm glad I have friends who understand me (as much as they can), and my occasional indecisiveness.  It's just hard to know what place my brain is going to be in after a rainy day at work and a commute home is shite conditions.  That and with shart tarck on the brain, what do I really wanna do to myself in the 24 hours before the race?

Bill Nye was up for a greenway ramble... with beer stops... but covering a distance less than what I desired.

Todd invited me on a ride at Uwharrie... in the wet grit... with two fast guys joining us.  One of the guys... notoriously stupid fast.  Mebbe I could hang in Pisgah on extended climbs, but he would beat my dick off on the rolling terrain of URE.  Obviously, I would be the one to blame, because I would bury myself trying to keep up (and failing).

I decided I'd rather be disappointed with overdoing it as opposed to underdoing it, so URE.

Fortunately, the stupid fast guy decided to not join us... and then some folks from points unknown became part of our crew as well. 

The pace was never too aggressive, and that was a great thing because...

dammit.


My heart rate monitor issues I thought I'd sussed out the week before were back.  I ride most of the time without a heart rate monitor, but if I'm trying to keep my efforts outta the red zone, it helps to have an actual red zone in front of you (the LEDs at the top of my Wahoo unit).

The upside of the day... no one wanted to be an overachiever.  We kept the miles reasonable, the pace conversational (most of the time), and the stoke high despite all our asses being soaked and toes froze.  We covered the same amount of miles that I'd done the week before in Pisgah with 33% less elevation gain and 100% less snow and creek crossings.  Bless.

The downside (if it's such a thing) was getting home early enough to kick back, swap gears on my Vertigo Meatplow V.7 (again), stay up late binge-watching Mindhunter, squeezy leg bagging, eating pop corn, and drinking a few beers (admittedly mixing in the occasional La Croix).

Not the ideal lead in to the next day's shart tarck, but definitely not the worst thing I've ever done to myself.

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