Spa Day For Pink Lightning

  

Today was a big day for Pink Lightning...in preparation for race day (1 week away!!!). I slept in this morning, as I am attempting to get 10-12 hrs of sleep on days that I can here, prior to IM. Rest and sleep are high on my list of priorities this week & next. After getting up and having my coffee and breakfast, Pink Lightning and I went out for a ride. As I have been pretty 'light' in my rides over the past few weeks with my back and leg/foot deal, I decided to bump it up a notch today and see how things felt. We went out for about a 25 mile ride, and the plan was to keep aero for the ride and spin at a nice high cadence, keeping the legs moving fast - but not grinding. The first 10 miles I took out in my small chain ring (warm up) and I was just cruising! I was holding 19-21 mph in the small ring. Then I kicked her up into the large chain ring for the remainder of the ride and kept my high cadence rolling. Still holding 19-21 mph, even into the wind. This ride gave me a bit of a confidence booster going into next week that the back/leg/foot is holding up and my fitness level has not seemed to drop during this disc injury & extended taper. Whew! After the ride, it was time to pamper Ms. Pink Lightning. We went out on the patio and had a little 'spa day'. Time for a bath! P.L. got washed up good, degreased, and given a little TLC. She's gotta get me through 112 miles of hilly terrain in a week - so she better be lookin good and well rested too! Then after the bath, we drove down to see Jonny. He was nice enough to do a little "pre-race tune up" for us. Jonny proceeded to tighten things up on Pink Lightning, get her gears shifting smoothly, tweaked her brakes, rotated her race wheel tires (yes...we rotated her tires), put on new handlebar tape, lubed up her chain, and topped 'er off with a teflon polish finish! I think that she should be set! We'll go out for a spin on Monday or Tuesday and ensure that all her adjustments are kosher and that we don't need any last minute tweaks before we head out to Madison. Tomorrow, Jen gets pampered...as Suzie is coming over for a little 'fluff & buff' massage to limber things up before IMWI. No deep tissue stuff, so should be semi-relaxing...unlike most of her massages. Can't wait...but need to go to bed soon to get my exorbitant amount of sleep.