Labor Day Vacation

My long weekend got especially long thanks to Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hermine. Campus closed Friday to prevent anyone from kayaking to the south side and that gave me the day off. Of course, a tropical storm and travel don't exactly go hand in hand, so Jen and I delayed our trip to Columbia until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning I went out to do my workout. I rode out to the trails expecting to see some carnage from the storm,but found myself surprised at exactly how bad it was. There were multiple large trees down, and derailleur hanger eating sticks and limbs all over the place. I spent some time trying to clear out some of the easier limbs, and finished my sprints in the grassy meadow.

The trip up 95 went off relatively flawlessly. Despite the storm affecting Columbia, there wasn't any debris on the roads on our way into town. We were expecting some delays on our route, but got there in a normal amount of time.

Of course, the storm meant that my normal riding spot at Harbison State Forest was closed, so I settled for the service gravel roads for my workouts.

Trails are closed so my normal Columbia cyclocross loop is out of the question. Commence dirt road 2x20s.

A photo posted by Justin Bristol (@jbrstl) on Sep 4, 2016 at 8:20am PDT

The lollipop at the end of the service road made for a good 2x20 spot. Two laps of the loop basically got the intervals done. It wasn't quite the punchy workout I would have gotten on a cyclo-cross course, but the elevation change and a few extra twists and turns got the job done. This was one of those great rides where I was able to knock around for a little while during my warm up and do some exploring, but still get quality work in during the intervals.

Monday was a day of relaxing and exploring. We slept until we didn't, and took our time getting moving. I decided to use my recovery day to check in on some favorite spots around Columbia. The canal path was lively with walkers and runners, and Hermine's effects left the temperature and humidity relatively comfortable for once. I rode the canal into downtown, and scoped out campus. I miss being at Carolina, but I'm happy to get the chance to hangout where I am now.

The next time I head out of town, it probably won't be quite as relaxing. Just a little over a week until 'cross season kicks off. Between now and then it'll be all about dialing in the equipment and finishing my last minute set up. I huffed a bunch of acetone today, and once my Carogna Tape gets here, I'll be able to finish setting my tires up. I can do four wheelsets before next weekend, right?