Well the snow has been gone all of two weeks in northern Minnesota... or at least mostly gone. I'm currently putting about 100-150 miles a week out on the road, in any weather. This past Tuesday was a treat with constant 30mph winds gusting to 40mph!! Fortunately the typical winds are between 12 and 20mph and a bit more bearable, if generally irritating.
I'll be doubling my mileage within the next two to three weeks, ultimately ending each week with a century ride by the time I leave for Australia. I have not yet began riding with panniers, but that too is coming in the next couple of weeks as soon as I get all my gear sorted and packed in it's more or less final "trip" form.
I'm told that my new wheels will be ready this weekend at the Ski and Bike shop in Grand Forks, ND and I can't wait to get miles on those Phil Wood hubs! Dave Sears has generously come out of "semi-retirement," imposed upon him by his grad school commitments, and built the wheels for me. Pat is rehabing a his post-surgery collarbone after his winterbiking crash, and so wheel-building would have been a new form of torture for him! I'm also having a Phil Wood bottom bracket installed, and I've decided that the bar-end shifters are going on as well.
My big concern is just basically staying healthy. Everyone in TRF seems to be getting the annual transitional season colds, flus and such. I really can't afford to get sick at this stage of training. So it's early to bed, super healthy eating, and enough vitamins and suppliments to kill a charging rhino...and of course no "fun" at all. God, do I LOVE training!!!
