"Crash miles"

...or how I decided that maybe I'm not quite as bad off as I thought I might be...

So yesterday after work I took my trusty mountain bike out on the road for some more "last minute miles" before Cycle Oregon gets here. That won't be too long from now, as CO starts September 6th. Or at least check-in does. We don't actually start riding until the 7th. I've been thinking that I really need to get in some miles, and I was right, so I've been doing them on my heavy mountain bike...

Yesterday was 41.5 miles, which I actually did in about the same time as I did 35 miles last week on the same road, so maybe it's paying off. I looked at my training diary last night, and with trainer miles, CROC ride miles, a few miles on the treadmill, and my mountain bike miles, I have 956 miles for the year. I'm going to be doing some more riding on the mountain bike, so maybe I'll survive this year's Cycle Oregon after all...

A friend has told me that this year's CO is "laid back enough that you should be able to ride yourself into shape by day 5" which is the day we ride from Halfway to Wallow Lake via the backcountry. I sincerely hope he's right. Nonetheless, I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of praying along the way...