pleasant surprise

Out in Prescott, AZ, for the past few days.  Though it is a bit on the chilly side for Prescott the 60 degree daytime temps are perfect for cycling.  I have two bikes here.  One is a somewhat bizarre road bike frame that I bought from Nashbar about 4 years ago.  Aluminum with odd dimensions.  Outfitted it with Ultegra gruppo and some good cyclocross wheels.  Brooks saddle.  The other I just shipped out here.  Airborne Ti Zeppelin with similar Ultegra setup.  Compact crank (39/50) upfront with a 9 ring 11/34 cogset in the back.  Mavic Kysirium Equipe wheels.

I haven't ridden a road bike in about 2 years.  But I've put many miles on the road bikes in this area in the past.  So yesterday I assembled the Airborne and took off for a mighty hilly 20 miles in the mountain roads south of Prescott.  20 miles and 1800 feet of climbing.

At first I felt unsure and lacking in confidence for two reasons.  First, because I've not put in a lot of miles on the indoor trainer this winter (attending to other matters).  Second, I've been focused on recumbent platforms in the past two years and have pretty much let the upright road bikes collect dust.

To my pleasant surprise I found my riding power and road bike handling skills have not diminished much, if any.  Certainly the endurance is not there, but that is to be expected.

Today, on my second 20 miler I returned feeling the old road bike rocking and out of the saddle accelerations come back to me with a vengeance.  I still had to feather the brakes on some of the more exciting downhills, but I recognized the old realization that climbing hills requires leg strength and power ... which I am happy to accept continues to be with me.

Looking forward to some good training over the next few days.  Tomorrow an early morning 20 - 30 miles and then a trip to Jerome, AZ, for a get together over mid-day dinner with lots of good AZ friends.

All in all it's nice to feel better than competent on the several platforms I enjoy: upright road bike, rear wheel drive recumbent, front wheel drive recumbent.  I feel, happily, `at home' on the bike and am looking forward to much more performance related accomplishments and lots of variety.