Maui to Now

From this.

Northwest Maui, February 6, 2017

To this.

Holden Reservoir, February 25, 2017

If it can be said that the "season" has started for me, it's because from January 30 to February 20 I was off the bike. In fact, I spent ten days of that time on Maui and despite turbulent, unpredictable weather there, managed to immerse myself in, and give myself over to, the Pacific Ocean several times, joyously so. 

So, because I rode pretty much continuously right up to the end of January and then didn't ride for the next three weeks, and because for some of that time I was literally far far away, and finally because I was discernibly off form on the first couple rides after the lay off, it seems to me that a seasonal swing has occurred, that I am not on ride #100 and something of the season but am on ride #12 of the new year, 2017. 

And a new year for Team Shad means, of course, the Rasputitsa, now just six weeks or so away. 

My immediate focus is building stamina and maintaining power over longer and longer rides. The Rasp is 45 or so miles, not a threatening distance on the face of it, but when you throw in the crazy elevations and the nasty conditions, you have a very difficult day in the saddle. I'm aiming to be fit enough to match the demands of the course and will rely on meditation, savvy, pacing, and Dubstoevskian stubbornness. 

Maui, February 6, 2017