Now that I wrote a post saying that my legs are total junk, I had a couple of rides over the weekend that proved that maybe they’re only about 75% junk. Saturday, I headed out for some base miles- a relatively short ride of just under 3 hours, but I was successful in maintaining a steady wattage throughout the miles. My route started by tracking north with a sweet 15-20mph tailwind from the south, then looped back to face it down most of the way back. Some people might consider that torture, but I can’t help but get excited as I make the turn from north to east and pick up a nice “lean into it” crosswind for a few miles before turning straight south. Matt went with me and wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.

Sunday, we’d originally planned on trainer rides since a steady, all-day, rain-turning-to-ice was predicted to arrive somewhere around 4am. However, I awoke to find that the first batch of rain had missed us. So, I woke up Ryan and Matt and we hustled out to the trail to get in as much time as possible before the rain set in for the day. It was barely starting to sprinkle when we left the house, and we made it almost an hour into our ride before the bottom fell out. Luckily, at that point, we were able to bail off of the trail and hit the Memphis Greenline to get home. Matt was feeling frisky and went to plaid on the unfinished gravel section, which I think might have been a slight punishment for the previous day’s wind shenanigans.

Changing gears a little… in “2014 Race Season” news, I’ve shifted my focus for race choices in May. My original intention was to go back to Trans-Sylvania to improve upon my finish from last year…a lofty goal, because last year, it was an outright perfect combination of both my best fitness and several strokes of luck that resulted in one stage win, the Overall Enduro win, and a 5th place spot in the Overall General Classification. Looking back, that was, both physically and mentally, the hardest race I’ve ever done.

This year, as I mentioned a few posts ago, Gu Energy is, once again, being a kickass sponsor. They’re supporting the 2014 edition of the  Dirty Kanzaa 200 race, and, rather than going back to TSE, I’ll take on DK200 as my next big challenge. It’s not only going to be a huge undertaking on its own, but it will also serve as a springboard to training for what stands to be another “hardest race ever,” the Vapor Trail 125. I know in the past I’ve sworn off 100 mile races, but these are more of the “epic” variety with a healthier dose of attrition mixed in to make them more exciting.

Admittedly, I’m becoming somewhat of a junkie for seeking out the next most “impossible” thing.