15 days...

Today was my last ride on the race bike until I pre-ride the race course two days before my race.  I rode early this morning, putting my race tires to the test, and to my surprise, they worked out very well.  I was really concerned about how well they would hook up and bite, due to the very low profile of the knobs...I've always been one of those 'bigger is better' thinkers when it comes to tires..."the beefier the better" I always say.  Interestingly enough though, I have to say that these 'minimalist' tires really did the job.  I'm taking two beefy tires with me just in case though!

I came upon another snake this morning...in fact, it was another red racer!  I haven't seen one of these in years, and now I've seen two inside of a week's time...pretty cool!  This little guy (actually he was quite big as you can see in the picture below) was just sprawled out across the trail, taking in a little sun light, regulating his body temperature.  Then, along comes man...destined to disrupt this snake's time in the sun!  Man notices snake, and man decides that snake must be played with.  Man dismounts bike, pulls iPhone out of pack, and takes picture of snake.  Snake does not move.  Man decides snake must like man, and that snake must want to play too.  Man puts phone away, and walks behind snake.  Snake still.  Man reaches down to grab snake's tail.  Snake makes lighting-fast 180-degree turn at man, and charges man.  Man may have screamed like little girl.  Snake races away, heading into small hole under brush.  Man gets on bike and rides away hoping no one heard him shriek like little girl, at non-venomous snake.

A wolf in sheep's clothing!

After I was nearly attacked by the snake, the rest of my ride went without incident!  It was just a nice easy ride in heart rate zone 2 (there are 5 HR training zones that I use...zone 2 is moderately low intensity) with a couple short bursts up into zone 4.  All in all it was a relatively relaxing ride that totaled about 7 miles, which I completed in 33-minutes.

Thanks for reading!