Been in California for 3 weeks, what a great place!. Unfortuntely only had time for one ride, in the desert round Palm Springs, great riding but very hot. Body is still on USA time and is craving all that lovely food.
Yeah, yeah, you've hit the nail on the head, gotta work your ass off until you can sail up those hills. I think if you live here (in Galicia) you have no choice cos every ride involves serious uphill. Well, I suppose you could steer around them, but kinda takes away part of the adventure, doesn't it? Hmmm, you've lost ground. That's frustrating. Obviously I have too because of the time I was sidelined by injury. You know what they say, 'if you don't use it, you lose it'. Hey Mackem, you were in California! Awesome dude! Haven't been there myself for ages, and surprisingly and embarrassingly have never been mountain biking there: got into it here. And cool picture. Riding in the desert, I imagine that's another first for you, know I haven't done that. Glad you like the food. Just idle curiosity but specifically what food did you like? I'll be sending more pictures soon!
Oh my God, MacKem, we know you too well to know what you´re diplomatically trying to say. Time for just one ride? Excelent food in California?. Ok, let´s get into business, don´t lie to us and tell us how much weight you´ve gained in the last 3 weeks ;-). I reckon u´ll require one month of hard pushing cycling to get rid of every kg you´ve put on. Will you be in shape for Christmas? ;-) Be careful Chain, Galicia is also a food-paradise. Ever wonder why those guys in the photo are so strong apart from having uphill surroundings? ;-) Cheers!
What food? - Not one particulalr thing, just the variety. On my trip I had chinese, vietnamese, thai, mexican, italian, english, belgian, american, indian and greek. Plenty of other countries i didnt try. Probably the worst thing about Spain (at least the basque country) is the lack of variety. I like Spanish food but it's nice to try other foods from different countries. Here it's bad chinese food or pizza. Didnt actually gain that much weight, i walked a lot and limited myself to two meals per day. The breakfasts are like breakfast and lunch combined. Going on bike now....
That says nothing good of California dishes. Almost everything seems to be from abroad!. Guacamole (from Mexico), Cioppino (from Italy) Barbecued Oysters (from Spain?) Grilled Turkey (from UK?) ;-). Chain, your hometown lacks of proper native food... ;-) Just junk Mc Donalds food
Actually I've been keeping my weight fairly well under control, for example, still haven't had haven't any 'empanada'. My wife loves to bring that home cos it means she doesn't have to cook, and it's really filling, and good! But since I've been cooking for myself I think my diet has improved. Actually have been having quite a bit of curry lately The guys I ride with around here are just plain good, that's all there is to it. Yesterday I rode with Richi (that's him and me in the pic) and it became crystal clear that not only is he stronger than me, but his skills are clearly above mine, especially going uphill. We actually stopped (very rare for this crowd) at a technical uphill, and we weren't tired so all you needed were skills to get up it. He made it look easy! And I couldn't do it! And in more enduro type riding, like technical downhills, he holds his own too, doesn't slow me down. Like I say, these guys are good. Yeah, I can relate to that. Spanish food is good and normally quite healthy, but 'variety is the spice of life'! Like I said, this is Richi and me at the Fervenza del Belelle Waterfalls. Really beautiful!
Wow!!! Water and forests combined to make a great background for your rides!. Those natural waterfalls do really emphasize the beauty of the spot you´re in. Cool!. Yeah, I´ve no doubt those guys in rural areas are quite strong and technically skilled due to the fact that they are accustomed to demanding terrain inland Galicia. One way or another that requires excellent control of the mountain bike, tons of technical skills and of course that also prepares yourself physically so well that your overall experience, skills and strength have no choice but to rapidly increase. Very, very nice pic. Keep on pedaling and enjoying that bike paradise! :canta
Believe it or not, I tried to make this picture smaller, obviously didn't get it right. I've been running my pictures through a photo editing program lately, Gimp. In any case, you can see that once again I'm out and about in the green hills of Galicia, and really having fun! The guys I'm with say they're going to have me back in shape for when I get back to Madrid. I've been following Jorge's advice: work out, work out, and then work out and some more! Actually not quite that much: rest is important too. BTW, have you noticed how green it is in Galicia, even in the middle of the summer? I have to say we've lucked out weatherwise. Touch wood, right? But so far it's been nice. This pic was taken yesterday. So Inter, been pedaling much?
Cool, friendly people and green backgrounds over there!!! That´s life, Chain! good health, good food, good housing, good holidays, good diet, good rideeeeeeeeeeeeeees! ;-) Yes! Today I went along with Bigsome and Javi (David´s friend) for a road bike ride and in fact we do feel stronger. Our average speed is not bad, slighttly better everytime we check it out, that´s brilliant if we consider the whole picture of our evolution. Besides, in this particular ride Big had an impresive triathlon test bike from the spanish maker BRT (http://www.brtbikes.com/). Never heard of them before, but I like the courage of small but passionate and highly specialized companies into the market like this one!. Anyway, the owner of the Company has promissed Big another bike to be tested, http://www.brtbikes.com/bike_fg-1.php. Yeah! it weights just 5.7 kgs. I´d like to have the opportunity to test it too so that we all could tell the Company our first-hand impression of the beast. As you see, there is always something new in town but we do really miss you!. When will you change those (ever) green forests in Galicia for our multicolour (depending on the season) bike lines and the like? ;-) Cheers!
As mentioned, this is the triahtlon test bike from spanish maker BRT. A knock out bike! Ver el archivo adjunto 3492768 Cheers!
Wow, very impressive looking bike! Hope you get a chance to try it out. Bet you could beat Contador on it, not to mention me, ha ha. My road bike weighs in at just over 8 kg, so the BRT weighs significantly less. Like I say, impressive! A miracle of modern-day technology... and price tags, ha ha. Bet it costs an arm and a leg. My biking adventures continue! I'm still having trouble keeping up on the uphills, but I'm also hindered by fat tires, a heavy backpack, and a beefy bike. These guys have more cross country / all mountain bikes, that is, light full suspension bikes. The more I ride with them the more I want a bike like theirs, but back in Madrid I'll do slower enduro rides. Temperature's gone down, good biking weather!
Beat Contador?. Beat you?. C´mon Chain, I wish honors were even, but so far even with a bike like that I wouldn´t have the edge on you! Hey! you already have a XC bike in Madrid waiting for you to also ride the hell out of it, so that we can say you are a more complete biker than those robust fellows in Galicia... :rambo Yeah! We are still in summer but our eyes as cyclists are forward to the upcoming fall season, that´s to say a great if not the best season to ride. The weather can change rapidly but we are lucky to say that overall every season is rideable!!! So keep on enjoying summer rides over there!!! :globero
Looks like I'm down to my last rides here :sad: but it'll be good to get back on my own turf! Maybe we can go for a ride in September! I imagine Juan Carlos and others will be up for it as well. I do have an XC bike, a hardtail, in Madrid, but I think I've gotten used to a full suspension. You know it really smooths things out and makes it more comfortable, gives you better control too on bumpy terrain. BTW, I've have done a bit of enduro here. This picture was taken a few weeks ago.
Maybe? Imagine? Take it for granted! When are you coming back? A pic from a quick ride somewhere in Valdelatas... Cheers!
stunned by your pix and skills, i only have to mention that another spoke has been ripped from my rim, my second in a row and i feel quite miserable. I was looking forward for this ride http://www.villalbaextrem.xctrail.es/ but as far as i can say it's that i'll be pretty much concerned on mech stuff rather than biking and that's massively disappointing. So i'm a bit low and certainly moody!! And things get even worse when i see you all grins on your rigs, i miss that days too! Enjoy yourselves as much as you can, cheers!
Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it, in the blink of an eye! I'm glad your mountain bike is seeing some use; seems lately you've been favoring the road bike. Don't forget, variety is the spice of life! Speaking of off-road biking, now that autumn is not far off, we may want to consider doing Cercedilla-Madrid, maybe on a Saturday in September. We've done it before so you know it means taking the commuter train to Cercedilla and riding back. If we make firm plans we'll let other people in the 'hood know, ha ha. Yeah, mechanical problems are disconcerting and distracting. When you're on your bike you want to be focussed on technique, going fast without falling, stuff like that; not worrying about funny noises or wondering if your spokes are going to give out. Actually I recently got a broken spoke too. In any case, I'm sure you're doing Villalba Extreme in spite of the technical problems: sounds like fun! You know, preparing for a race is obviously more than physical, you need mental preparation as well, and it sounds like you're a bit down now. You should go there with the idea of just having fun, not trying to be a world-beater. I think we were vaguely thinking of going to Cercedilla sometime. We'd be an odd couple: me doing cautious enduro, and trying to keep up with you on the uphills. As you know, It basically involves sweating up the mountains, then going down technical trails, which can also be VERY tiring. Actually I've hardly been there this year, a pity, but summer is the best time cos you get away from the heat and don't have to worry much about water and mud. In any case, September is probably the best time for me cos I have both Saturday and Sunday free. The weather is nice: enjoy your bike rides!
Don´t be down tonight Jorge because tomorrow you will be given another chance to fight one more round and you´ll find joy in overcoming those obstacles. After every broken part in your bike or failure, the sun smiles if you don´t let your head down. Cheer up man! Home sweet home!, great to know you´re about back in the cycling routine, Chain. We´ve been missing you for the last 3 weeks but the wait is almost over. Our next cycling season will start when you are in Madrid!. Cercedilla is just the first of many rides to come!!! ;-)
Damn i failed!! What a hell of a day last Sunday.... Another mechanichal issue turned me down, as expected well .... Keep calm and train harder
