Today was another great training session. I didn't think I had it in me after working on the local trail for about 20 hrs this weekend. I encourage everyone who rides to help out with trail maintenance. It seems as though a very small percentage of people who ride my trail do any work at all. When I say small percentage I mean my wife and I and sometimes one or two people from the local bike shop. Its funny too, when we are out there working you either get a big thanks or some un-cool look of someone probably thinking that "its about time someone did this", when in reality it's not my job and I do it because I want to. I cleared all eight miles of singles track with my wife and some friends of mine from "The Bicycle Shop". We worked on removing 4 inches or so of pine straw and leaves and then worked on erosion control. We did this by digging out some of the sand pits and building up walls where the sand washes into the trail. We were also able to utilize some brick we found near by in the woods to lay on the track. This will also help with the amount of sand pits. It's great working on your own "training trail" so that you can make it as smooth and as challenging as you want. I cannot wait to race on it next year for the XTERRA Smith Lake race. I have never had the opportunity to race on my home course. Back to training today...I was able to squeeze in a 20 mile trail ride and then a 5 mile trail run right after. Unfortunately for me I rode with a friend of mine that only rode the first 8 miles at the speed of light and then he left. It was something I needed, but I didn't plan on riding that hard at the very beginning...I am sure I will pay for it tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a weight training and swim day so it will feel easy. I hope you enjoyed my breif moment of venting...LATER!
