Dudes, I’m just feeling so good these days. Another excellent week of training is in the books. I’m over Friday’s bonk. Had a couple of days of great riding. Today is a rest day and then a few more easy days before I ramp up again.

Saturday I put my mountain bike in the car and made my way over to Swamp Trail on Hunt Club. This was my first mountain bike ride of the season (and in many years) so I wanted to ease into it a bit. Swamp Trail is a great way to get rolling on the mountain bike and then move onto more technical trails. This is exactly what I did. I pedaled and enjoyed nature and was well protected from the rain with the trees and greenery. I ended up making my way to Lime Kiln. I had attempted to ride Lime Kiln last year on my cyclo-cross bike, but found it to be too technical for me. New year, new training, so perfect time to get back out there. I had a fantastic ride. I was tested on all levels. Some of the sections at Lime Kiln are rather technical, others less so. The slippery rocks and roots added to the intensity of the ride. I had a blast. A few slide outs, a couple of loud gasps but more than anything – massive ear-to-ear grins loving being on my bike. Even the flat tire wasn’t a big deal. I had so much fun. Such a refreshing change to be out surrounded by nature and moving forward.

Sunday I was back on my road bike. Marc was racing at Calabogie and I had a four hour ride on my schedule. Perfect. So I rode to Calabogie. Well, lets just say, it was windy on Sunday. Really windy. I felt like I had the headwind in my face for the entire ride. There are also some steep winding climbs on County Rd 511. I was super conscious of my caloric intake after Friday’s disaster, so I ate and ate frequently. I think this helped a lot – I finished the ride feeling tired but not spent. I was able to keep my wattage high and the hills didn’t beat me down. My only problem was liquids – I had only two bottles and with the rising temperatures, I was starting to run low on liquid. I made it on two bottles but could have done with three bottles. A great ride indeed.

I felt a massive sense of accomplishment to do such a ride alone. It took a bit longer than planned (just under 4.5 hours) but it was worth it. I find that when I do hard/long rides, I feel so confident. These kinds of rides give me a boost. I feel powerful. I feel confident. I love looking at my power meter data and seeing how far I’ve come.

Cloud nine indeed. Great way to start another week of training.