I started MLK Monday by going to Hawley to Fatbike with John and Pamela. I followed them in my car; we left early, and besides a snowmobiler, we were the first to arrive.
I soon had my bike set up in the freezing cold. Pamela was less fortunate, as her Fat E-bike's battery had probably gotten too cold and refused to start up. She went home in my car. John and I were on our way shortly after.
Did I mention it was cold? A 2°F feel temperature. After about a mile, I noticed that John was no longer following, so I turned around. Soon, I saw him walking with his fat bike; the rear hub was broken. That cut our day short. While John walked back, I rode some more. I took some footage with my HoverAir X1 drone and GoPro. I also visited the Hawley kiln, made some videos, and then headed back home.
The good news was that I now had ample time before the pickleball session that started at noon.
During the NCC Hill Climb on Tuesday, I was a little too aggressive at the start of the 20+ minute climb and blew up after 10 minutes. I had tried to ride sets of 2 minutes at FTP base, with the last 20 seconds standing at VO2Max. Unfortunately, my heart rate started to spike, and I had to back off. From then on, I could only maintain a tempo pace. I finished in 26:49 with an average of 244 watts, more than 4 minutes slower than my PR.
The next day, Paula and I went skiing at Berkshire East. The conditions were good, with even some sections of powder, which I tried as it is not my strong point. In total, I skied 12 runs. In the evening, Paula and I gave a pickleball clinic to 4 new players.
I did not realize there was no NCC race on Thursday; I was late and joined the Tour de Zwift ride at the last minute. I checked the Discord app to see if there were any other riders and found Melissa, Dusty, and Henry relaxedly chatting. It turned out there was no race. I decided to finish the Tour de Zwift stage at an endurance pace.
Since the conditions were good, Paul and I took out our cross-country skis for the first time this year. We skied for an hour in fields along the South River.
When I heard that the Snow Fat bike conditions on the Montague plains were good, I got out there in the afternoon and did a one-hour ride. I also made some footage with my drone and GoPro. Unfortunately, the HoverAir X1 drone crashed multiple times and actually stopped working, which was a bummer. Fortunately the company's customer service was able to get it repaired quickly.
Saturday morning, I played pickleball again, and in the afternoon, Sean, John, and I rode 8 miles of the snow-covered trails in Montague again. The conditions were splendid. Scout, Sean's dog, joined us and was very good at running on the snowy trails.
Since I could not get enough of these trails, I went back there again on Sunday. This time with Jay, who picked me up, and we rode 10 miles of the trails. Too bad the weather was warmer the next day, but I'm glad I was able to get the rides in. Oh, and I also did a pickleball session at noon before heading off to Montague. It was a busy week.
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