Light Weather and Long Rides

The past week has had phenomenal weather perfect for getting some longer tempo rides in.  Last Sunday was a decent 3.5 hours, a bit of gravel, and finished on the race course that will be used for Cherrie Pie in a couple weeks.  Tuesday was a ride of "epic" proportions with Ross.  About 6 hours total, with a mountain pass forest access road in the middle, and the last 25-30 miles in a headwind.  Here's a couple pics at the top of the climb on the gravel road.

Felt a bit heavy Wednesday morning for the ride, but legs eventually cleared up and the gravel brought some great sensations.  Temps stayed in the 40's at the warmest, but the skies were clear.  After a couple days off Sunday was a solid 4.5 hours, plenty of gravel and climbs.  Had some great tempo work at front, and some digs at the end of the ride on gravel.  Felt good to start to go hard, racing should start off well.

You can't see it very well in the background, but I've been riding my new race bike, a 2011 Specialized Allez.  Though Specialized is marketing this bike as a more entry level frame, it's the same aluminum construction as Cipollini's World Championship winning S-Works, so stiffness isn't an issue.  Specialized actually advertises the new Allez as being as stiff as their S-Works.  Meaning for every S-Works that "racers" buy, I can get about 6 Allez frames, at the cost of about a pound or so.  

Thanks for tuning in, see you next time!