If you don’t mind sharing… What trail is this?
I’m happy to share. It is at different spots along Middle Flagline in Bend Oregon.
I put a few more picts in this thread : Anyone doing High Cascade 100 in 2020? - #62 by asteryx
where is that?
Steamboat Springs, CO
I wasn’t off till after 3pm in the penultimate VTTA F2A/25 so I drove down to Fotheringhay and did a short z1 cycle to Oundle. Contrary to the forecast it was nice and sunny so warmed up nicely.
The F2A/25 (north of Cambourne) warm up was similar but the moment I cycled to the start rain which was almost hail and strong winds got up 
I got a 11 more watts out but the constant battling of side winds and hail totally deflated me. My 50 milers for the same power (222w) on the same course were a mph faster and the same power on hillier 25miles courses has seen me go faster too 
ive went well under the hour when its been a more east west wind and I have got out much more power (292w and 242w)
Love the color!
Got it from a super cute little shop in Fair Oaks, @WindWarrior! Biker bar.
Where are the chicken 
pics?!
. They were there!! You’re right! Missed opportunity!!
Back home from the 3-day Haute Route Davos… It was fun three days. Though I originally planned on the “original” distances, I switched to the slightly shorter “compact” soon before the decision point on the first day. There were two reasons: first, of course, I wasn’t excited about the additional climbing beyond the compact finish (the back side of Flüelapass); second, I knew the road from driving it several times over the past couple of years, and I didn’t want to ride it (too narrow, too busy, not interesting enough to be worth it). I also didn’t want to bury myself (also I had work to do that evening). It was a tough day nonetheless which showed how unfit for purpose I was. Oh well.
The first day was only 54 miles with 5400’ of climbing.
It was a great day for a ride, even if the rollout was close to zero C. Despite the blue skies, it probably never reach 50F / 10C, so (nearly) everyone had winter kit.
It was slightly warmer on the second with overcast skies, but only slightly and rain was a sure thing, though when was unknown. On this day, the compact was 61 miles and nearly 6500’ of climbing.
I felt much better this day, which was a bit concerning because I felt nearly “really” good. Was I going to blow up? My “race” mind started to return as I thought about my M50-59 placing in the compact. I was 4th (not of 4 but of 6 or 7) and I saw the guy that I thought was ahead of me (he was actually behind me in 5th after the first day). I was much faster on the descents and faster on the flats, but me slowly pulled away on climbs. So I took advantage of what I could. Because the whole event isn’t timed, you can take long rests, which I think he did. I beat him by 4 minutes on the first day, and he ultimately beat me by 8 minutes on the second. However, I did get this picture of 3, not including me, modes of transport:
And, yes, in fact I was drafting off the MTB for a while at 18-20mph, that is until a fast group went by at probably 22-24mph and he jumped on their wheels. Back to the photo: you have my not-pictured road bike, the mountain bike, the horse rider, and in the distance a nordic land skier getting ready for the coming snow (forecast for this Tuesday evening and Wednesday).
The rain did come on the ascent. That wasn’t a big deal, though it was soaking. The finish was up on a mountain, so we had to get back down to the shuttles to take us back to Davos.
Wet, curving roads meant a lot of time on the brakes for me.
Today was the time trial. I didn’t think I’d be able to take 4min away from the guy who I thought was in front of me but was actually behind me and now was #1 in the age group, with me as #2 4min behind him. Didn’t matter as there’s no value to being number AG in this. But, the mental mojo returned a bit, and I was eager and nervous to push my limits more than I wanted to in years.
There’s a flat bit before to warm up, with the timing starting about the noticeable inflection point. Overall, I was happy with the 9.2mi and 2750’ of climbing in 1:20 (the timed segment was 1:12:58). The guy that had been first in my AG didn’t start, so, whoop whoop I was first in the AG in the compact. I looked over at the original listing and it looks like I was the fastest M50-59 overall, so that’s cool.
The celebrating is limited, though, because Strava declared my segments on the climb to be my second fastest. Back on September 17, 2017, I did the snow-challenged Challenge “triathlon” where the swim was cancelled because the lake was too cold and the bike was reduced to a time trial less than 6mi up Flüelapass because the snow plows hadn’t cleared much beyond that. Well, Strava helpfully reminded me that, for example, on a 1mi 8% segment of today’s ride I did better 5 years ago (when I was also 20 lbs lighter, running ultras, and swimming):
I was more than 3.5min faster on a 1mi segment then (of course, Strava helpfully pointed many other segments up the climb where I was much slower today than before 
).
Returning from the end of the ITT was a bit easier, with much of the pavement comfortably dry.
Here’s the Relive video of the first day:
… of the second day:
… and, of the third day (today):
Lastly, I spotted this apparently very important cargo on my drive to Davos Thursday afternoon:
I thought it was car free but I’ve only done it once in reality and it was probably a quiet day 
As I understand it is car free during peak season. The last little bit was nuts but on the climbs drivers were super chill.
My main ride today was a gravel ride out to Elton and lol, after much debate we ended up at our favourite cafe in Fineshade After which we fancied a wee bit of a change (we had been thinking that before we settled on Fineshade) so we headed over the A43 and then a pub in Wansford 
After sobered pint and 3/4 which was for me enough and had some lunch I headed to a lbs to get some degreaser. Ive never actually bought degreaser before. Ive just wiped the chain and lubed it and if necessary repeated. But I am trying some tungsten lube on my road and TT bikes which dries into a wax. I had just applied it on a wiped chain but this time I thought I’d better degrease first.
Oh another one of these appeared when I was cleaning the road bike.
