Notes Along the Way - Weeks 17 and 18
Inevitably, I'm about a week behind in posting. I want to write about the Lu Lacka Wyco ride I did yesterday, but this is the 18th week of the year. So, two topics in one and as I reflect on them they are more connected than obvious at first.
Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo
This event gets its name from combining the three Pennsylvania counties the route runs through — Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming — in the Endless Mountains region of northeastern PA. Although the hundred mile route is the classic one, I opted for the 75-mile course this past weekend hoping it would help me stave off overtraining. Still, this route packed in 7,500 feet of elevation gain, which was more than enough hills!
Most of the course reinforced something I already suspected: I like climbing. The rural landscape was absolutely beautiful. I wanted this event to reveal my strengths and give me confidence in my training going into Unbound, and it mostly did that. I'd love to say I rode up every hill, but there were three steep ones I chose to walk part of. Still, my confidence got a boost when I noticed that despite walking those sections, I still managed to pull ahead of nearby riders who had stayed in the saddle the whole way up. Turns out efficiency isn't always the most obvious thing.
My bike was great. I'd been worried about my rear tubeless tire, which had been losing pressure unexpectedly over the past week. I added sealant and hoped for the best — and it held. Riding through some muddy singletrack and wide puddles, I noticed I'm more confident in my bike handling than I used to be. I found myself mentally comparing how I rode this course to what I might have managed a year ago, and concluded I'm stronger. That's a good feeling.
The big experiment of the day was putting carbohydrate mix in my hydration pack — two scoops of SIS Beta Fuel, which is basically concentrated liquid calories designed for endurance efforts. Nearly 800 calories of fuel, worn on my back. It worked well! Wow, I now have a way to carry so many more calories with me. I did notice drinking this mix caused me to crave plain water and I would’ve done better to have one of my two regular bike bottles with something other than just electrolyte mix in them. I almost never crave plain water, so I paid attention to that. I'm a believer that what your body craves out there is usually what it actually needs.
I've been a little hard on myself for still dialing in nutrition this close to Unbound — the race is May 31st — but that's exactly what tune-up events are for. I still have a few gear decisions to make and drop bags to assemble. Drop bags are the food and supply caches you pre-stage at aid stations along a long route, picked up as you pass through. All in all, I think I'm in good shape.
30 Day Social Media Break
Something else I've been playing with this past week: a challenge to stay off social media on my phone for 30 days. If I want to check in with friends, I can log into my computer for a few minutes. The goal is to make it intentional rather than reflexive.
I've noticed a real shift, even in just the first few days — and I haven't even been perfect about it. I'd estimate I still pick up my phone out of habit maybe ten minutes a day, which I want to reduce further. But something is already quieter. I find myself noticing what I actually think and feel, rather than reaching for my phone as a first response to any idle moment.
It occurred to me that both of these things are really about the same thing: controlling where my attention goes. On the bike, the miles have a way of demanding presence — I'm reading the terrain, listening to my body, noticing what it needs. That kind of focus doesn't feel like discipline; it feels like relief. Taking social media off my phone is an attempt to find that same quality of attention in ordinary life. To notice what I actually think and feel, rather than handing my focus over to a feed the moment things get quiet.
