brain dump

First of all, I want to apologize. It's been almost 2 weeks since the last post and this one is most likely going to be long. That oddly corresponds with the start of the semester... weird.

As a follow up from the last post, the shoes and pedals are absolutely amazing. Molly Cameron at Portland Bicycle Studio did a great job on the cleat fitting and would highly recommend getting fit by her if you're looking for a custom fit. I still have a little but of pain in the left knee I'm blaming it on my riding style. There is such an incredible difference between road and mountain shoes/pedals, the power transfer, the stiffness and the locked-in feeling are incredible. Ok, the shoes and pedals are great, enough of that.

If you have not yet see my friend's new special effects video you need to check it out. Click HERE to go to it. Yes, it is rather short and kind of gory (usually not my kind of thing) but the amount of work and attention he has put into this project are truly colossal. If you like it leave a comment or subscribe, he likes that kind of thing.

Next, here's a neat picture I took while downtown studying one night list week. I was in the middle of crossing the street and looked down and saw this reflection. Sorry for the poor quality but I was trying to not get run over.




As far as training goes, this week was really tough. I got a ton of riding (maybe too much) in but my legs are shot. Took Monday off but Tuesday I destroyed the normal Germantown loop with an incredible ride, Wednesday was spin class and rollers, Thursday was a cake ride (only 53 minutes and 14+ miles)... yeah. I made up for it on Friday with the hardest hills I've ever ridden and then spin class. As if that wasn't enough I decided to throw on a long ride at the end of the week. What was supposed to be a 65 miles ride turned into about 80 miles after the typical "hey, do you know where we are?" -- "no, I thought you did" exchange. We made it back and still felt strong at the end but my legs aren't talking to me right now. Here is a link to the planned route, if you ever get a chance to ride it, do it. The ride goes out to the Canby Ferry and is pretty scenic with no major climbs, just a few short kickers and a bunch of easy rollers. Yet another link, this one for the pictures from today's ride.

I leave you with this:
this is EXACTLY what I feel like in spin class, minus the sweat and profanity

Don't forget to look at Wren's video. Even if you've already watched it, go watch it again!