The chainy tonight and at first I was flying into the headwind; equalling times from 2012 with a tailwind. Then I hit a series of craters (aka potholes) and something seemed to go and I was hanging on the back and eventually dropped.
When I get home I saw I averaged 39w more than last week but I was 0.7mph slower 
Then I spun my wheel. It spun for a bit and stopped dead. After tea I quickly diagnosed it, the pothole had caused the front caliper to loosen and the pad to rub. It wasn’t enough to totally disable me but enough to take the edge of me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVeY-DhYX38h_MAdxtgyqfPYB2Kce5bKINJx80/?igshid=hv1ru8n9fd35
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How fun to take your bike on vacation! What a great way to explore. Hope the paella was amazing!
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Practice crit time, came in second again but much closer this week. Feeling like I may get a win soon 
On the back of the breakaway here
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^^^
???
Well you did post a pic 
I originally posted a screenshot of the Strava ride but took it down, don’t want to offend anyone so I’ll just flex on em with my new goofy shades instead 
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Did my first real group ride since fall of 2019. Done a few rides with a couple of buddies in the last year, who were being as careful as I was, but no true group rides.
But I am 2 weeks past my first shot, so 80% protected and the ride is obviously outside, so my wife and I both agreed that the risk factor was minimal.
It was so good to be back out with the regular crew…our Tues / Thurs rides are fast-paced rotating pace lines. Avg 25+mph with some stretches doing 30+. Very smooth and well organized.
Really wasn’t sure where I would be…as noted, haven’t ridden with them in a long time and mostly been doing TR…but I quickly settled into the rhythm and we were flying.
Ride the ~7 miles back home with a stoopid-ass grin on my face and was in a great mood all day.
Didn’t realize how much I missed those rides…great to be back!!
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Good to have you back!
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ok this was crazy scene after finishing lunch…
wife spotted a squirrel momma taking a baby for ‘a ride’ from our feed zone while the dad was supervising:
yes that is a baby squirrel in the momma squirrel’s mouth. Dad on the plant container.
so we ran upstairs and caught her running along the top of the fence to a tree along our side yard. Forgot about my camera 
but redeemed myself with a shot after she jumped to a tree and climbed it:
you can see the baby’s tail in this pic!
And then jumping to a redwood tree where they have a nest, got a pic while in mid flight:
approximate route (no gps tracking):
@Cleanneon98 know you also love stats so here are my estimates:
- 200 feet traveled
- 30 feet of climbing
-
1050 squirrel TSS
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Hilarious!
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it was like a momma cat grabbing a kitten in its mouth, by the scruff of kitten’s neck, and then carrying on with normal squirrel maneuvers as if she didn’t even have the baby in her mouth. Gotta say that awesome nature action is right up there in our mental hall of fame.
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That is amazing squirrel athleticism! I think it was worth more than 10 TSS! She should recalibrate her meter.
We have a very polite squirrel that eats the peaches off our tree and then neatly piles the pits on the fence.
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Mark Roper squirrel ninja course. I’m sure there is a bike somewhere but this is definitely an outdoor workout.
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watching and laughing already… and it reminded me that last week at lunch I saw a dove dive bomb, yes, dive bomb (!) a squirrel at the 3rd bird feeder and knock the squirrel to the ground 
and here I thought doves were symbols of peace
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Dropped early and often… last time I got dropped:
Good times, I ‘downshifted’ to upper z2 to recover and told her to go. She did thank me on the ride and after:
Base fitness is solid, just need to work on strength endurance and take it from last night’s ~40 minutes out to a proper diesel ~120 minutes. Rock and roll.
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Was in Newtown area a couple years ago and was gorgeous - after going to Sesame Place 
Wonderful outdoor ride at lunch. Was warmer than appears. And I hit 235 PRs - only had PM for 2 months - but they are still PRs!
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More weekday western slope riding.
This is the trail where we’re going. Hike a bike up and down.
This is the direction we came from.
Sweet desert single track.
The obligatory action shot with the river in the background.
This was my first ride with a hot waxed chain. It performed well, but still a few creaks now and again that I wasn’t expecting. I think the tight tolerances of a new Sram chain may not work as well as other chains with hot wax. Will be interesting to compare to my gravel bike - shimano 11 speed chain - that I also waxed.
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Seeing the benefits of the new structured workouts and increased volume (thanks to 5:15an workouts) and base phase paying off with some decent numbers and PR’s!
Did a chain gang Tuesday after the big 4 hour hard ride Sunday and playing football Monday- so know there’s more in the legs when fresh.
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