Methow Training Week, Day 1

Yesterday was a bit hectic getting out of town and I didn't get here until 9:45 or so last night.

My plan today was to swim in Patterson Lake and try out my single speed cross bike on easy trails/roads.

After a good night's rest I was up and ready to hit the water by 6:30. The parking is a little funny at Patterson Lake with the big area reserved for cars with a Fish and Game parking sticker, so I had to use another spot just up the road. This was the same launching point I'd used when I was here 2 years ago: a short trail down to the lake with a quite decent cove to get into the water. NO ROCKS on the bottom, just coarse sand.

I swam a rough triangle - across the lake to the rocky cliff below the Patterson Lake trail then north almost to Patterson Lake Resort then back to my starting point. The only tricky thing is recognizing the launch beach from the water. Here's a map: Patterson Lake swim.




Back at my room I did a little work then prepped my bike for riding. Here's a picture of it as nobody but me has seen it:























It's all built up starting with a Nashbar frame and parts that I accumulated over months. Notice the purple theme. I gotta say, it's quite pretty.

Anyway, it rode really sweet. I rode a mix of single track and roads with some long climbs and some steep climbs. The bike handled like a dream. My only complaint is that it tends to skip a gear under hard load - and I can put it under hard load pretty quickly. My guess is that the chain tensioner needs some adjustment. I also had to loosen up the pedal release as they were really tight.

But I really liked the way that it handled bumps - way better than my TiCycles bike.

I rode for a couple of hours and was plumb tuckered out when I was done. It was HARD. Just wandered around the trails up by Sun Mountain and tried not to get lost.

Tomorrow: WASHINGTON PASS!