Spring rides and races

It's not even April, and I've been riding outside in Montana for about two months now. Even a lot of the mountain bike trails are clear. The only downside is that I didn't ski very much this year. So yeah, first real outdoor ride of the year? Jan 27th. Last year I didn't get out until Mar 12th. I've been getting my ass kicked on the weekend rides by guys like Toby, Elliot, Stinky, Josh and Sam, I've already lost a few pounds of "winter weight," and am starting to feel a little quick, which is good because I have two races coming up.

Last year, I didn't go to the speedwagon "race" up in Polson because it goes down some pretty rough roads that my caad 9 just can't handle. When I tried it two years ago I ended up with one flat, shredded all the rubber off the sidewall of my rear tire, and had zero control through the deep gravel sections. Last fall I got a cross bike, so now I think I'm ready to try it again.

The Speedwagon is a low-key, unofficial race, done on some back roads southwest of polson. Entry "donations" go towards food and drinks at the end. There are no categories and no numbers, just a group of guys on a ride, with a contest to see who gets to the finish first. So not much different than all the spring weekend group rides. Weather report looks good for the weekend so it won't be a cold, wet, mudfest, and I think I've chosen the right tires. I'm going with a clement LAS semi-slick in the front and a 28mm maxxis refuse out back, which I'm hoping will give me the right balance of speed, flat protection, and traction in the loose stuff. There's enough smooth fast stuff where I don't think full CX tires are the right choice, but I've only done it once so I don't know for sure. The skinny, 60tpi wire bead vittoria cross XGs are not going back on that thing if I can help it.

Then next weekend is already the Rocky Moutain Roubaix. Last few years it wasn't until the end of April but I guess they decided to move it up. I'll be racing in cat 4 now which makes me a little nervous, especially about the extra laps we'll do up the dirt sections and how my road bike will handle it. Even though I put some fast tires on the CX bike I don't think it's the right choice because of the high speed paved sections, especially the run back into town on the frontage road and the uphill finish. The slight loss of efficiency there could mean the difference between the podium and off the back, so all I have to do is get through the dirt without flatting.

After that, I don't have a lot else planned. I didn't sign up for Butte which hopefully won't hurt my motivation this summer. Actually that might be a good thing because I can take a little mid-season break and then get ready for cross. I might try to do the lolo 12 hour race if I can get some teammates to sign up. I also want to make some changes to the mountain bike: A little more front tire, wider bars and a shorter stem, and then I'm thinking about going 1x10 and considering a dropper post.

Well that's all for now. I'll try to update this thing a little more often than twice a year.