The Calm Before Newton's Revenge

I officially committed to Newton's Revenge bike race up Mt. Washington on June 1st, just 35 or so days ago. Since then I have trained very hard and made a few slight modifications to my machine, the Trek 1500.

On June 6th, I took part in the practice ride. Conditions were dismal. It started raining heavily at the base of the mountain and never let up. The gravel sections were like mud. The asphalt sections were unforgiving. I finished about four minutes slower than I expected in temperatures below 40 degrees. It was a humbling experience.

I drew up a training log later that weekend for the next month that consisted of 730 training miles of moderate to extreme intensity. I'm happy to report that I have roughly met that goal and am ready to race on Saturday.

As for the Trek, she now sports a 13-30 rear cassette that when coupled with my 30 crank produces the so-called 'magic' 1:1 gear ratio. We'll see.

I know I won't be competitive in my age group; in fact, I'll probably be dead last. What is important is that I gain experience and best my own personal goal that I set for th race.

Here's to hoping.