JUST A SPOONFUL OF PAIN...

WHAT CHANGED?  We smashed the SHoP ride today.  Well under an hour.  Only 8 of us, we've had more.  My second fastest time ever...

... on my gravel bike.

Yes, I'd mounted the deep dish road wheels and tires.

But, still.

That's whack.  In fact, it's whack anytime we break an hour.

My unscientific assessment links this performance gain to one eversoslight tweak.

I'm taking Tuesdays a little easier, because Wednesdays are a lot harder. 

Now, instead of going out for a big MTB ride on Wednesday, we are racing our bibs off for one hour on dirt. No drafting, simply chasing and being chased up down and around. It's brutal...

... but, that's it.

Nothing else.

Just a spoonful of pain.

How did I deduce this?

Just by looking at the Fitness & Freshness tab on Strava.  It's pretty easy to see when the improvements started.

You know what else I've deduced?

Racers and riders really like the Mini RaceDay™ bag.  I haven't promoted them for quite awhile and they aren't even easy to find on the site - doh! - but the orders keep flowing in.

https://pedalindustries.com/products/the-mini-raceday-bag

Like everything we make, this started off as me wanting to solve the ol' crap clanging around in my saddle bag problem.

We make it out of inner tube so everything is held tight. 

These days I only use the road version and only carry 2 canisters a nozzle and some bacon strips, plus a multitool and tire levers.

You'd think I'd raise the price, demand being like it is.  But, I feel like I'm doing a public service getting all those nasty sounding saddle bags off the roads and trails of our country.

$20.  Delivered.

https://pedalindustries.com/products/the-mini-raceday-bag

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166 lbs (this is what happens with the kids visit and we eat at 9pm)
Stretch and Hypervolt.
6 hrs sleep (so is this... maybe this was the reason I flew today?)
https://www.strava.com/activities/5186182750