Thursday 27 August 2009

No going back

Earlier this year i sat down and thought about really achieving something notable with my cycling... in my eyes at least.

I'm a realist (well almost).. i'm never gona make a pro... i'm never gonna carve a living with my legs... but i enjoy my cycling... no matter how bad a mood i am in with life i know that a few pedal turns i'll be feeling back on top of the world.

This is pretty mch the only thing i have ever shown any promise in... i would like to think i am a better than average rider.. on a good day i can ride at the front in a race and usually see the top ten but the draw of the podium although desireable isn't what is motivating me at the moment.

Well anyway i came up with an off the cuff remark to Grace that i wanna ride the coldest, hottest and highest mountain bike races in the world... in the same year.. on a singlespeed.. and she agreed if thats what i wanted.

I live to a rule generally in life that came from my bmx days at university.. if you call something out you got to do it... i've called this now and my body is gonna have to endure the workload my brain has scheduled it.

So the first is the coldest...a bit of research showed that the Arrowhead 135 Ultra in Minnesota can see a trail temperature of -60 farenheit.. so i've entered and it looks like my entry on the basis of previous lunacy whilst in charge of a bike has been accepted.

No going back... i've called it... so now i got to man up and do it.. if i said i wasn't scared i'd be lying... if i said i was excited it would be an understatement.

5 comments:

Red Bike said...

It will be intresting reading seeing how you go about dealing with -60. I can't cope with -6!

I suspect single speed will be a big advantage. I've had my gears freeze up in a British winter.

paul.e said...

Thanks... reading every scrap of info on race at moment trying to absorb as much as possible..

Yeah gonna gear it low take off my racing head and get as much from this experience as possible :)

Groover said...

You are a sucker for punishment. Good luck and I hope you achieve your goal. So will see you DownUnder at the Crocodile Trophy for the hottest race?

paul.e said...

Hey Groover

Yeah maybe down that part of the world bu think Simpson Desert Challenge is hotter than croc... although Desert Dash in Namibia could be hotter still

Jason said...

Good luck with this one! A guy I know from Salsa Cycles has attempted this one a couple times. Finished once. I can send you the links to his reports for some info, etc.,