SecretReality

Asides

• 9-22-11: So the saddle time I've been putting in has really been making a difference.  I did my local training ride today, this will be the second time on this exact route, the third time on roughly the same route.   I was 20 minutes faster than the last time, and 30 minutes faster than the time before that.  I was really moving coming down the trail once I got there and honestly was in motion almost non-stop short of stopping for traffic lights.  I have definitely been trying to push a little harder each time out and what is awesome is seeing and feeling the difference from one ride to the next, whether it is these local training rides or the couple trail rides I've done out at Salmon Falls lately. When I hit that first stretch of rolling singletrack as I pulled off the paved bike trail, I just mashed down on the pedals and hammered through the turns.  It was awesome, I was really moving down the trail.   Pumping where I could, keeping my speed and fun levels up.  Of course, this is a shared use trail, so I keep my jingle bell on the bars, you know just in case.  :)  I'd still like to really start getting in more of these during the week, at least a couple times a week should be doable.
• 09-4-11: Well I discovered a way to extend my time in the dirt with my local and turn it into a loop rather than an out and back.  It shaves off about a mile of the overall ride, but that’s just street anyway, and it incorporates a nasty little dirt climb which you can see in the profile.  My legs are pretty blown, getting back into pedaling is hard work, so I might have to start off with every other day on this training ride for now, before making it daily, or at least 5 days a week. The nice thing, even only being my third ride back in the pedal game, I can already feel some big improvements. I’m so used to mashing on the pedals in only one direction, I am discovering getting a good spin is way more efficient, burns your legs more, but I think you can get more out of it in the long run.  So far, I have become hooked on my power straps, those things are awesome.  I love how I can slip out in a heartbeat, but I love the connected to the bike feeling I get with them on.  I really do have a lot more control. This picture was shot with my cell phone, so the quality isn’t the greatest, but it was a nice view after climbing up that hill you should see right around mile 5.5.  What you can’t see is that the edge there is a near vertical drop off, so it is pretty dangerous up there for sure.
• 08/23/11 - Launch of the new SecretReality site based off of the Wordpress system.