The week after riding The Beast has been a quiet one. As with last year I didn’t actually start feeling any muscle soreness until 2 days after the race and to be honest I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get back in the saddle.
I spent Monday at home cleaning up after a big weekend of riding. My bike was filthy and sounded extremely second hand and needed a thorough clean and mini-service. The bike wasn’t the only thing in need of a going over; I finally trimmed my hobo beard right down and had my first haircut in almost 3 months.
.:The dirty bike post Beast:.
My Crank Brothers wheel-set has taken a beating these past few months and the rubber on them barely survived the Namadgi trails. So the tyres came off and went in the bin, while I scoured Canberra’s bike stores for a set of tubeless rubber. Alas the four shops I visited didn’t have the tyres I wanted so I resorted to buying a set on-line and placed my spare wheels and tubed tyres back on Kate the XTC for the interim.
My first ride for the week was a short pedal up and down Mt Stromlo that ended with me riding straight into a tree on the second half of Luge. While there was no real damage to person or bike it highlighted how in tune I had become with my XTC with tubeless setup that when I put on the stock wheels I was inches off my normal lines.
Not to be deterred I headed back out on Saturday afternoon on Zooey the Anthem. She is a great bike especially going downhill where her dual suspension absorbs much of rough riding Western Wedgetail, Skyline, Luge and Duffy’s Descent throws at you.
.:Zooey On top of Mt Stromlo:.
At the end of the week I only rode twice for a measly 23.9km in total.
The time off the bike wasn’t for naught with a lot of time spent emailing the Beast-Worx and Soldier On crews about the previous weekend’s riding, fundraising, upcoming Call of the Beast and of course more Riding For Soldier On.
.:Nearing the end of The Beast:.
.:Congratulating Adam “Rocket” Rolls on his hard-earned 7th place:.
.:My right up in the Battle of the Beasts post race report:.
Blogged Down By Life 