No longer an endurance minded racer.

The last two games of this series were pure fire! For some reason Pittsburgh bundled up all there intensity and saved it until they were on the ropes... They crushed the Red Wings dreams of winning at home in SUPER EPIC fashion and came close to doing so to force a game 7, but having in the end the all star studded team prevailed. What a series.

Yesterday I took the Oiz out for a spin up to Spanish Lake and Fort Bellafontaine to get it dialed for this weekend. I spent too long putting the final touches on my saddle height, fore-aft and bar setup before I left the house and didn't really pay any attention to what time it was. I left the house with about 700 calories for the ride and 400 in my belly. Problem was it was about 1 pm by the time I left.

Fire roads are as close as I could get to trail riding with all this water and I tend to be a little more aware of my fit when I'm not flossing sweet trail so I headed out to get it dialed in. This bike is rad. There will be a serious review when I actually ride some trails, but the Oiz is stiff and fun to ride!

I was doing ok after a couple laps of the fire roads at the Fort and sucking on a creatine, maltodextrin, gatorade and endurolyte mix when I decided to try the Cheerpack again for testing purposes. I was about 1:45 into my ride when I stopped at Spanish Lake for some water, to get wash the salt out of my eyes and to stretch... It was damn hot. I made the turn south at the Columbia Bottoms and things started to go downhill fast... I hit a steady headwind for the last 20 miles and didn't consider how much harder it was to push 26" knobbies on the pavement... I only had one GU left which was a temporary relief, and when it wore off it was over. I think it was a combination of the mountain bike on pavement, not enough to eat in the morning, the kick of the Cheerpack wearing off and not being replaced and the serious heat. Hot, hot, humid heat. By the time I hit the landing I was poached salmon.

I haven't limped home from a ride like that in about 4 years. It was miserable. I walked in the door and had a mega serving of Recoverite followed by a monster Chocolate Elvis Recovery drink. What? Two frozen bananas, 2 tbs peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate Soy Milk, and 1 scoop chocolate Endurox. That shit will rock your face like Elvis at Madison Square Garden in 1972!