Fixed?

Made it into Rasmussen Bike Shop for a quick check on my bike fit after work yesterday. I've been having some tightness in my inner left quad and knee after hard rides for the last few weeks. The only thing that has changed since this summer has been my shoes and a new pair of cleats. I put the cleats in myself, but not until after throwing out my old shoes. Yup. Dumb move. Adam Thompson got me squared away quickly by adding the cleat shim back in I neglected to notice, and moving the cleats to their proper position. I opted to skip my recovery spin and spent the time loosening up my quads for today's planned 3 hour ride.

I arrived at a local Starbucks at 7:15 AM and the weather was calm, balmy feeling, although the temperature was a touch above freezing. I went outside around 7:55 to get my Fargo ready and the temp was already sinking and the wind had picked up significantly. I and seven others headed west out of town. One rider was feeling the effects of a few too many libations the night before and was off the back, even though we weren't pushing the pace. With the temps falling and the wind picking up, I really didn't want to spend too much time waiting to regroup, so while he and his friend rode together, the rest of us continued west. Other than the wind, the ride wasn't too bad. Our group rode west of town for about 90 minutes, passing through Van Meter, until we hit DeSoto. We took a food and bio break at a convenience store and then took the same route back into town. The couple of short sections we rode heading north were painful due to the cold and the headwind, but everyone made it back in one piece. Not a tough ride due to either the pace or the route (which was mostly flat to gently rolling), but the wind and the falling temps made it feel tough.

With the snowy gravel and the light drifting on the pavement, the Fargo was the right bike today. The Bontrager XR1 tires were comfortable and gave me plenty of traction. No issues with the tubeless setup, even with the cold. No issues with my knee or quad during the ride or after, so it appears that my issues are all fixed for now.

I expect a bit of a ramp up in training time starting this week. I'm looking forward to it.