Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Hard Tail - Hard on the Tail

If that doesn't say customer loyalty I don't know what does!

Well I figure since I paid for it and sold the FS ETSX-30(No not the new ETSX-70) frame I had that I might as well ride it. So I took the Vertex-70 Hardtail out to Thomson on Sunday and again tonight, and it is definitely a learning endeavor. I enjoy the fact that it is lighter and faster on the less technical portions of the trail however I miss the ability to point and go down the hills or thru the rough stuff. Not that this is a totally bad thing I could use some work on my ability to pick the best line thru some of the trail, and another unexpected surprise is the way it flys thru the ditch and up the hill on the end of the trail I was surprised to find I could still jump thru there like I do on the FS and not have the feel of a much harder impact - momentum truly is a good thing at times! I am looking forward to doing the 1st Snake Creek Time Trial in January - Yes I am going to attempt to do the 34 mile course again, this year hopefully a little bit faster. I have only that and the Thomson day rides that I can participate in before I go back to work for my Uncle and have to miss the start of the season but I plan on packing the hardtail and have some better training this time while I am gone as opposed to just riding a stationary bike this time! Anyway I hope to keep up my current consistent work out schedule which is primarily cardio with some strength training going thru the next month and then get into a good training regiment for about 16 weeks and try to fulfill some of the goals I set earlier, obviously the 12hrs of Razorback is out so I wish you all luck and I will be working from a deficit when I get back as I will have missed the first 3 races of the season. Just more motivation to train harder to see if I can't accomplish the goals I set for myself for this year regardless of the adjustments. Looking to ride this weekend hopefully Dauset, not sure what day or time,(More than likely early) but if you happen to be out there as well then I Will See You on the Trail!

6 comments:

Lissa said...

Santa says your only getting reindeer poop for christmas. lol

BIKES, BEANS, AND BLUEGRASS said...

yo

BIKES, BEANS, AND BLUEGRASS said...

it works now, for some reason...cool.

ETSX Rider said...

alright dude I was wondering if anyone would ever post to my blog again!

BIKES, BEANS, AND BLUEGRASS said...

chris, about cadence. it depends on how serious you want to get with it. if you are following the "training bible" then joe friel divides it up. if you just want to keep it simple then just have one day when you cruise on the road during the week to focus on high cadence. dont go overboard but just fast and smooth. one interesting thing though is sometimes its good to "mash" or run hard gears during certain times of the ride to keep the HR down. you just have to know when to keep a high cadence or slower cadence. HR to me is very important compared to power. i say that b/c not everyone can afford a power meter but a very simple HR monitor is not expensive. i could go all day we need to discuss over a ride sometime. What are you doing Sunday morning?

BIKES, BEANS, AND BLUEGRASS said...

i want to do a road ride on the mountain bike. my bike is ready. in fact i will be riding before work tomorrow.