All tied up in Knotts

It was a fun day at Knott's Berry Farm yesterday. I can remember when we lived in El Paso, watching cable channel KTLA, and seeing the ads for Knott's Berry Farm. I want to go but we never were close to living in LA. Yesterday, the mythical land was brought into reality. Really, it was just like Fiesta Texas. It even has several of the same rides. The Boomerang and the Scream. They might have been slightly different but not by much. We went and saw a couple of shows as well. It was a good day for the family. The best ride was the Xcelerator. It went from 0 to 82 in 2.3 seconds. Then it looped up and over, coming straight down on the backside. When you come out of your seat at the top before going down, it gets you a bit in the stomach. Yet, again, it was similar to the Poltergeist at Fiesta Texas but the Xcelerator was just a bit shorter of a ride. Check out the link to Beecher Street for the pictures. Christine posted them last night.

Just a note about training on the bike, there are 9 weeks till the Triple H. This is the prime training time for preparation. Heart and competitiveness are vital charateristics of competition. If you don't have them, then more than likely you are not competing. You are just mosying along, smelling the flowers, chasing butterflies, hugging trees, and any destination will do. In reading one of Lance's books, he mentions a race he was in. He felt prepared but when it came time to go, he did not have the top end to hang. He could tell by all of the information that was being gathered, watts and heart rate, that he was at the upper limit of his ability to push. In this case, his best was not good enough to win. So what did he do? He went back and trained harder in order to raise the bar. For me, the Mt. Hamilton ride was a "raising the bar" event. It was tough, both mentally and physically. There are definitely times when "mosying" is acceptable. We all need stress relief but in the back of the mind there is the overarching goal looming there, pricking your conscience to get out there and prepare. Don't ignore the prodings. These last nine weeks are all we've got between just eating the food or eating the food and "yeah, I'll take the check! Let me conclude this portion with a Lance quote, "This is my body. And I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it. Study it. Tweak it. Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?"

Finally, there is three weeks till the STP. 204 miles of fun. I am in the final preparation stages for this ride, riding almost every day trying to complete my preparation. I feel good about the ride. I have planned a long ride for this weekend. Christine is going to Utah for a wedding of one of our nieces. I plan on celebrating the first day of the TdF with 125 miles of my own, with a 50 mile kicker the next day. I know I can do it. These rides are more for the confidence than anything else. The bikes knows the way. I have just got to push it to get there. Finally, one last Lance quotes for the day, "Once someone asked me what pleasure I got out of riding my bike for so long. 'Pleasure?' I asked. 'I don't understand the question. I didn't do it for pleasure. I did it for pain'."

Pain is the sign of weakness leaving the body (I've got a lot of weakness leaving the body these days). Gotta love the pain!!