If everyone's off the back does that count as being dropped or just a change of pace???

... between completing a 200K and 300K and soon to ride the 400 (3/15) and Hell Week - maybe I am in shape.

Hey Shymember, want to join me in Princeton on Saturday for a ride over to Frenchtown and back via my 200k route? I have a car with racks! The weather is suppose to be better in Princeton than here.

I thought we spent hours scouting and evenings preparing the cue sheets for nothing. Good to hear someone reads them.

Even though I have been riding a full-suspension mountain bike on group rides since December to get extra work in, I think my long distance endurance has suffered a bit; however, endurance is easy to get back so I am not too worried. I think my power-endurance is OK from an indoor perspective since I have spent many, many hours riding around or above LT in spin class, but the indoor work needs to be translated to a real bike under real conditions outdoors. My weight is OK. Hills won't be a problem early on, but there are some serious climbs on the horizon, and I am eager to drop 5 pounds to get to my target weight ASAP, as I find myself more motivated to train hard in the mountains when I am at target weight. As with increasing endurance, dropping 5 pounds is something easy to do once the weather clears. Summary, endurance: could be better; power-endurance: a bit off, not too much; weight/climbing: a bit off, not too much. Lets just hope the weather clears sooner than later, although I fear this weekend may unfortunately be a wash.

...just got back from New Zealand where the cycling's fine (if a little damp through the rainforest) and where I was able to put in 400 miles (which, of course, will be wasted if the weather doesn't get better soon).

Aren't you all supposed to be in Majorca at one training camp or another? Isn't that what all you A-riders do in February?

(p.s. If the leader's off the back, then it's a change of pace -- I should know, I'm frequently there.)