Viagra Man

I'm walking/hoping around work this morning and I can't help but feel like the Viagra man. Next to sex, three awesome season-starting rides in Huntmar will do that to a hardcore cyclist.

That's pretty amazing considering I've sold the Zed this weekend. She's been good to me, and was within 3/10ths of a National Championship in 2006 (after extensive therapy I've learned to put that behind me). That car was literally perfect in every way for what I wanted. Now it's time for someone else to benefit from that hard work.

As you all know though, sweet single track can be extremely therapeutic and that's exactly what happened this weekend at Huntmar. Conditions were great. To top it off, I had the BEST season opening ride that I can remember. You know it's a good ride when every couple of minutes you break out of a separate train of thought to realise how much fun you're having.

I was 'one with the bike' this weekend and clearing sections that usually take a good month of riding to hash out. There's two things that are likely the reason for this.

1 - My new Hadley hubs, Stan's Flow tubeless rims, and Schwalbe's sweet Racing Ralph 2.4 where awesome out there. The bike when exactly where I pointed it, and traction (a mere 27 psi - tubeless) was unreal.
2 - Kettlebells. I took this up before Christmas and logged a couple of workouts per week. I kept the weight fairly low (35lbs) so that bulk was held to a minimum but cardio and upper body endurance improved. Zero arm or back fatigue and I was manhandling that bike with ease.



There may have been other factors (long winter frustration syndrome), but in the end it is the rider and sport who benefit. Here's to an awesome 2008 season!