Next Up - IRONCROSS!

Yup... $70 bucks was laid out for Ironcross. Guess that means I'm doing it. I like my Team this year -- Seymour Bunz. teehheee. The Ironcross is one of those races that you never know if you're ready for it until you're done with it. I guess a true roadie who puts in about 500 miles a week might be truly ready; but weekend warrior Chili who's down to 3 days a week of riding will just have to take a wait-and-see attitude and ride it for the challenge of it. One thing is for sure -- it'll likely be a beautiful, crisp fall day - it was the last 3 times I rode it. I'm not sure why, but I actually like riding fire road. Not in Weiser State Forest though. There's just not enough of it. I did a pre-Ironcross training ride on Friday in Weiser and I got real tired of riding the same two fire roads a couple times. Actually, I stuck in the Lykens hardtop climb to Lukes trails which is fire road for the most part. But I still could only endure 37 miles of the same scenery. When I was about to climb Lykens hardtop for 3rd time, I hung it up and went home. Sunday was a 2nd longish ride and I felt good doing it and felt satisfied I'll be as ready as I can be for Ironcross. (But now my back is killing me. I guess that 20 wheelbarrow loads of horse shit on Satruday between long rides didn't do me much justice, huh?) Bike selection is always a challenge for the Ironcross. You see all kinds - many are customized just for this race. My first year I rode a full suspension mountain bike which was a mistake (too heavy to carry up the run up AND it was slow on the fire road). The 2nd year I rode a hard tail, lightweight mountain bike. That was ok, but still slow. The third time I did it on a true cross bike. It was definitley the bike of choice for speed, but I couldn't ride it on singletrack AND I couldn't ride the last couple hills with no 3rd ring. This year, I'm riding a niner mountain bike with 700 x 45 cm tires. It still won't have the speed of the cross bikes, but I'll love that front suspension on Lippencote Trail and certainly will cherish my granny! Bring on the Ironcross!