MTB Ashland

In an effort to prep for the HC hundie, I have been easing off on saddle time / mileage in order to let the legs rest a little for the long day this upcoming Saturday.  It is always a bit of an art to rest the legs / body in prep for peak performance.  I have yet to figure out the algorithm but am not sure whether it is poor training leading up to the taper, or the taper proper, or the fact that a hundred miles on a mountain bike is going to hurt regardless of what you do.  I am going with the latter but hopeful that I can fine tune the body enough to help maximize performance on 'race' day.

One of the interim rides of the taper came on Saturday where we were able to sneak out for a quick ride.  There was quite an elevation punch in the short ride so it was good to put the legs under a little stress.  Fortunately, most of the climbing was done about an hour into the ride and we were able to enjoy the downhill.  We descended via Toothpick to Caterpillar to Alice in Wonderland to BTI.  It was a good day out in the saddle but it is still weird to wonder how the legs will feel in a few days.  With a little luck the taper and training will have been timed well enough to survive the day.

The new variable in the mix for Saturday's race is the weather.  We had a great forecast for a while and then the hammer dropped a few days ago.  The forecast temps of low 80's have changed to now forecast mid to upper 90's.  This will definitely throw a new element to manage carefully during the day...hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate....My body does not like heat very much so this will definitely be a very real challenge to have to stay on top of.

Some other pictures from the adventure to Ashland and Saturday's ride:

MTB Ashland - Cars in Wonderland?

We did a quick trip to Ashland this past weekend and managed to squeak in a ride on Saturday.  We made our way up the FS road and took Toothpick down to Caterpillar to Alice in Wonderland and BTI.

The excitement (excluding the Toothpick descent) was when we started making our way down Alice in Wonderland and came across this:

MTB Ashland

While visiting friends in the old stomping grounds this past week, I managed to sneak in a couple of rides while there (palm to forehead).  I forget how good the mountain biking is in Ashland - probably because I was not into riding while living there....The long , steep climbs with some super fun descents make for short punchy rides.  My rides did not exceed 18 miles in length, but they made up for the 'shortness' by adding some elevation punch of over 3,000ft...most of which was all in the initial 5 miles of climbing.  In some ways. it is like Oakridge in that you climb up steep fire roads with little relief - it is a constant grind, but the pay off is pretty sweet too!

They were doing some logging in Ashland so a big chunk of the popular trails were shut down due to logging operations to thin out the area.  I stayed on the north side towards Wagonner / Ostrich Peak and still managed to get in some great riding.

As part of the logging operations, they were also doing some controlled burns which was a little weird since it was a big enough controlled burn to make a guy wonder whether it was in 'control'...it was a bit eerie being above the burn and seeing that bad boy going.  Fortunately I was on the other side of the trail system since that area was pretty well shut down due to the operations going on there...and understandably so!

Some pix of the riding:

Mt A in her glory -

 the trail completely disappeared at this logging area - weird....

 The goods!

 Great trail conditions - super tacky all the way up to around 5,000 ft.

Mt Mcloughlin off in the distance -

 Winding your way down singletrack off Hitt Road - connecting to the irrigation just above the park...all connected - very sweet!