Yarnell Grade, Mountain Training ... and Balance In Life

I could write an incomprehensible book on this subject. 

Over the past week I've `psychologically inoculated' myself against early season doubts about my capacity for riding up mountains and long grades.

• Two weeks ago I rode the Skull Valley Loop, with 2,000 feet of climbing in 20 miles.  
• Last Friday I joined 300 intrepid cyclists and rode up Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona.
• Yesterday I rode the legendary Yarnell Grade, where the Arizona desert meets the mountains of the Colorado plateau.

Here are two videos of the descent down Yarnell Grade.  The first one is on May 18th in a car.  The second one is on May 19th on my Bacchetta Ti Aero recumbent bike.

1. Descending Yarnell Grade - Car
2. Descending Yarnell Grade - Bike   

Though I had planned to do a 34 mile, 3,300 foot training ride today ... my body is telling me to rest. 

And that is the hardest thing to gauge in terms of training: balance.  Balance as it relates to performance improvement; balance in terms of the rest of  my life: family, work, social activities and just simple `relaxation.' 

More on this topic over the next several weeks and months.