I survived a "double day"

Yesterday was my first "double day" in a long time, well over a year, I'd say. For me, a "double day" is a day in which I have two rides, one road and one mountain. Despite DZ's doubts, I did both, and did pretty well on both. I'm really starting to see real improvements in my riding.

In the morning, BVL stopped by and joined me for a short road ride, covering the same roads that I rode on Wednesday's awesome ride. Unfortunately, conditions weren't quite as nice as they were on Wednesday, with the temperature near 20 degrees cooler and strong winds. Still, we got out and were just taking it easy. It might have been cold and windy, but it was still clear and sunny, so it was great to be out.

We looped out to the river, where we saw icicles hanging down the rock, and headed back up Fleecydale, heading for "the ballbuster" -- Fretz Mill Rd. I led the charge on Fretz Mill, with BVL dropping back, and I stayed in the lead through both of the steeper sections, but ran out of talent just as it was "levelling off" to 6-8% grade. BVL coasted past me, and I climbed the remainder slowly, watching BVL inch away, but -- when I got to the top, I wasn't burnt out and didn't need to stop. I might not have beaten BVL to the top, but I was still really happy with my performance based on my season to this point.

We got back home and started working on the bikes, with DZ joining us to retension his light 29er wheels. After a crazy afternoon of bike love, we packed it all up and headed to Wissahickon with Grace and the MTBs. I was tired from the road ride and bike wrenching, but still rode pretty well. I'm having a recurring issue with my lower back bothering me on these rides, and it got really bad towards the end, but I used my granny gear to full effect, and survived to the end.

According to the GPS, I burned over 3500 calories yesterday, with 1212 feet climbed on the road, and over 1700 feet climbed on the MTB. My average speeds weren't stellar, but they weren't too bad. I'm feeling better about Utah now!

Today we're joining DZ, Ellen, and Lance in Mercer. If I did a road ride this morning, I'd call that a "double double" but I just checked the weather outside and it's 28 degrees. Three rides in one weekend, I think, will be just fine.