April 13: Week 10 wrapup
It’s the last week of training before pre-ride recovery, and it’s busy: four sessions at the gym, two core strength workouts, several runs, and cycling both days in the weekend. Friday has no gym, but that’s the day for a medical check, tetanus shot and getting the bike serviced. Looking forward to the next two weeks, which are recovery - only two or three classes a week, and hopefully all the organizing is done!
This week’s gym sessions are heavy and I’m getting some knee aches. An injury at this point would be very bad so I’m trying to be careful, but I still get some unpleasant twinges when I run home on Wednesday - maybe it’s actually the running shoes, which are quite old? I’ve been avoiding them since then, hopefully that will help.
On a more positive note, the gear ordered over the weekend has arrived. New socks, I finally remembered to get some. A sleeping bag liner that’s cotton not silk as that costs 2.5x more and only saves 100g. Merino undertrousers in case it gets cold.
New panniers - they’re so large they advertise that I’m disorganized and of low character. They look waterproof enough to keep a monsoon out. They’re Ortlieb, which is pricey and reliable and somewhat trendy.
There’s also new Brooks saddle. I wasn’t able to test-ride it first (downsides of buying online) but they’re recommended by riders so often I thought blind ordering would be worth the risk. There’s a process for measuring the width of your sit bones, involving sitting on cardboard and measuring the dents afterwards, but I skipped it - the shop only had two sizes and the small one was definitely to small. The online webshop tries to say that they don’t allow the saddle to be returned, and the packaging has a welcome envelope deliberately arranged so it has to be ripped to get it out. I’m sure the European customer rights laws are on my side if I want to return it - but it’s clear it will be an uphill battle!
This weekend I plan to do a trip with full gear, staying in the tent overnight to shake out any problems. It’s hitting a low of 6°C most nights this week. I’m not fond of sleeping in tents in the cold - but this is the last chance to check everything, while there’s still enough time to sort out any problems. So it’s happening, but hopefully the weather warms up a bit…
Two weeks to go.
