Test Day.

Tomorrow is the last really hard, obscenely painful, ridiculously crushing ride I'm supposed to do until I saddle up on April 10.  It's been a fascinating journey thus far:  from December when a 30-mile ride induced a blurry-eyed, peanut M&M feeding frenzy to last night, when I almost finished the Thursday Night World Championship ride with the fast boys.  Those rides are still harder than most any race a Cat 4 will ever do.  It's not time to get sappy yet, so I'll hold off for now...

Brad called me up today and, knowing I was thinking of going to Boone, deftly talked me out of it and into riding with him.  I've ridden with Brad several times, but never one-on-one.  I know he's got quite a bit of cycling history under his saddle, includng a podium at the 2009 Pisgah Mountain Bike Stage Race.  He and his teammate are in the orange/black/white in 2nd place.  This pic was in cyclingnews.  We are proud to claim him as part of the CLM.

So, we're heading out of Pinnacle tomorrow around 9am, aiming to get in around 62-65 miles.  Coach has given strict orders for a race-effort ride (not sure what a non-race effort ride is like anymore, to be honest) to equal the distance of the Battenkill:  100 kilometers.

Interesting that it's just two of us, as it will absolutely prohibit me from sitting in or resting too much.  I expect the Battenkill to be many things, but I do not expect it to be a race in which I have a lot of time to rest.  Even if a large group stays together, the variety of the course will demand 100% attention at all times.

So, with a glass of merlot and a belly full of protein and carbs, I hit the hay.  Expect a post-ride, post-nap, beer-tinged update tomorrow.