5 to go

Got in a nice recovery ride this morning. Hot as hell already and twice as humid as Panama but a nice morning nonetheless. My rides always end up with a stop by the Piggly Wiggly near my house. I grab a Diet Coke and some breakfast and sit outside on the picnic table and take a few minutes to enjoy the day. I get the same thing every morning. Same cashier every morning. We small talk a couple of minutes every morning, I pay, and then she puts my stuff in a bag. I'm wearing cycling clothes and a helmet. She knows I rode up on my bike. What am I going to do, roll off with grocery bags hanging on the bars? I tell her I don't need a bag, I'm going outside to eat it every morning. I'm interested in seeing how many times we go through this routine before she finally hands me my stuff with no bag.
Anyways- Training is going well, got some good hard rides in this weekend and was pleasantly surprised when I downloaded my Garmin after them. A few more interval days, knock out 120 miles on wed, a few strength workouts, and I'm off to CO! Picking up Matthew in ATL, then we're racing in Ft. Payne, AL. Never heard of the place until Matthew informed me that the band "Alabama" was from there. Ironic, they got their start playing at the Bowery here in good old Myrtle Beach. Looking forward to a stop in Albequerque, NM for some riding, and then one of my favorites....Flagstaff, AZ. Then on to Durango for a bit and we'll work our way up through Crested Butte, CO Springs, ride up Mt. Evans, Brekenridge, then finally Leadville where we'll hook up with Cal Naughton and Liza. Then only a few more days until I get to suffer for 8 hrs 2+ miles above home! Hoping the 2 weeks at altitude will take some of the edge off, but not kidding myself. Riding above 10,000 feet is terrible no matter where you're from. Racing out west over the last 15-16 yrs I've noticed I get a little better with the altitude every time I go out there. I'm usually fine at 8,000 ft. 9,000 ft isn't too bad, but 10,000 starts to really catch up with me. I've raced up to 12,000 before and up there basically all I'm doing is trying to keep moving. Don't know if I'd call it racing. Hoping that after the descending the Columbine climb, getting back to 10,000 feet or so will feel awesome.....other than the fact that I'll be 60-70 miles in of course. Only one way to find out! Stay tuned-

DH