Poor Mountain recon another 56:35

Poor mountain recon. Either the track is getting faster or I'm getting faster
56:35 today.

Notes-heavier front wheel
-55spv in fork
-mentally distracted today
-cooler temperatures
-5 sport legs taken about 40 minutes before starting

Today the weather was very cool, unlike the past times I've been here. Mentally I haven't been into cycling much over the past two weeks, so my focus and concentration were not at optimal levels today. However I was riding solid. I am coming off a 1 week rest period and just got back on the bike this past Sunday.

My legs didn't feel too snappy but they did feel strong. On today's ride, I just went steady. No hard efforts just solid. My breathing was steady and I never felt over the edge.

The track is definitely getting worn in a little, though the top part had just as much loose gravel and braking bumps as ever. I ran my fork with a little higher SPV today and think it helped. I am thinking that I need to compare with the rigid at one time otherwise I'll keep wondering. Since the road is so much smoother than last year it might be worthwhile.

In looking at my split times today
14:26 to the dirt
32:32 to the turn
9:36 to the top

my biggest time gains were on the last section. Today I could tell that I didn't slow down as much at the start of the last section. Sometimes I've come to a complete stop. The sportlegs had kicked in well before then so I had some solid footing going into the last section.

In addition, because I'd just been riding steady up to that point I had a little reserve in the legs.

In a way I think being mentally distracted a little might have helped in that I just wasn't able to go over my limit too much. This turned out to be a good thing by the end of the road.

I think I'm just getting stronger in general. The last training block had been a tough one and I'm on the upswing from the recovery. The key for me is the legs. If the legs feel good than it doesn't seem to matter how the cardio is doing when riding steady state. My conclusion of my training is that I've got some good sustainable power output. I can go outside this sustainable level a little bit but not much. So I know that I can't really go all out like at race starts. But I can get through a grunt section and then recover quickly and keep going at steady state.

What is missing right now is leg snap. Part of that is coming off a recovery week and part of that is the Sport legs. On this climb I don't need snap but in an XC race I do.

Though I am feeling a little feverish at the moment. I think I've had something waiting in the wings. We'll see