Death Ride Preview, or, Well, I'm certainly tapered

Ready to go. 5 days and counting till the Death ride. The mental preparation is a lot different for me than approaching a marathon. I don't feel any time pressure, no worry about how fast to go, pacing, or any of that. I'm just starting to focus on being ready for the time on the bike, getting through each pace one at a time, and enduring the challenge of doing five passes. My training has been good enough, I'm sure, but in a sense this race may be a week or 2 too late for me. Once summer starts, the family travel schedule heats up, and as a result, my bike riding has gone down while my relaxing, beer in hand, riverside time has gone up. So... my legs are rested, but I'm probably up a couple of pounds from a few weeks back.

Nevertheless, I'm ready, I have a few personal goals, and I know it's gonna be a lot of fun. I did some of these passes last year and was amazed at the scale, but after a year on the bike and a bunch of great local climbs I am looking forward to seeing them again and realizing what a difference a year makes. The idea of a few days in Markleeville is also appealing. I have my fishing rod at the ready and hope to catch dinner at least one night.