Long time, no blog

So I've been neglecting the blog lately....to busy with work and riding. So here is what has happened since late April:

Had two bouts of illness - a cold and an upper respiratory infection - a real drag on training
Big crash on the road while doing a group ride...bike unscathed, concussion for the rider :)
Much work on my climbing...but still needs improvement
My longest training ride ever - 7.5 hrs / 220km
A ton of long rides - over 3000 km in May and start of June

One thing I've been lacking lately is riding my mountain bike. As a matter of fact, I've only used it 3 times since the 24 hour race in February.

I've been feeling pretty good during my rides lately....less and less fatigue when doing back to back to back 100km+ rides. I've even done a few 2 a day rides.

My first big race of the year is on June 18/19 for the 24 Hours of Summer Solstice which is in Ontario, Canada. The race is sold out and there are an expected 2500 riders. There will be about 50 solo riders (that is the max they allowed) and there should be a ton of competition to make things interesting. I have several friends also doing solo so I'll be in competition with them as well as the rest of the field for a good position.

I'm in taper mode right now, but I don't like to ease up too much. Seems like my body prefers to ride everyday vs taking days off. Trying to just cut down on the mileage so I am still riding on my same schedule, but just shorter distances. I'll be taking a few forced days off next week (Monday & Tuesday), do about 3 hours on Wednesday, Thursday off, and about a 60-90 minutes on Friday just to keep my legs fresh. Then race on Saturday.

The long range forcast for the race is rain on the Saturday, sunny on the Sunday, but significantly cooler than the heatwave we're having right now. Let's hope the rain goes away and the temperatures warm up a bit. Last year the night time was in the low 40's which was a bit too cold for me. Particularly when you are starting and stopping (for food)....the sweat gets cold fast!

I'm planning to preride the course this weekend. I've heard there some new singletrack which is very technical. I'm not sure if they'll put it in on race day as the organizers need to cater to the average rider which might not be able to handle the new track.

I might post one more time before the race....otherwise watch for a race report the week after the event.

Cheers!

Steve