Day -15: Back in the Saddle
These last few pre-tour days are critical for getting things back in shape, and one of the most important things to refurbish after a long winter break is... the rider. Skills decay more quickly than the equipment, and it's critical to keep things in order up there on the shiny side. Slow-speed maneuvering, street tactics, and red light vigilance need to be retrained, and new skills from video training over the winter months need to be practiced into muscle memory - slow, lean and roll, trail braking and late apexing come to mind.
The weather isn't cooperating much, with rain coming in most days and temperatures struggling to get above the 50's, but the 2019 Prefrontal Tour isn't about comfort, it's about goals and destinations.
Honestly, the risers are a "50-50". They make it easier on the back and arms, but they seem to put the wrists at an unnatural angle that makes them ache after a short while, and they interfere a bit with the throttle palm rest. And if a bike is anything, it's a system of parts that must equal a functional whole. An optimization in one area as often as not leads to an issue somewhere else.
The weather isn't cooperating much, with rain coming in most days and temperatures struggling to get above the 50's, but the 2019 Prefrontal Tour isn't about comfort, it's about goals and destinations.
The last two days have offered enough inter-squall stretches to get in about 3 hours and 100 miles of riding, and at one point yesterday, it actually got warm enough to take the thermal liners out of the riding suit - a welcome achievement after the long winter and longer mud season we've had. It wasn't that far in terms of mileage, but it was enough to reconfigure the electronics that were blown away by a bad update last week, and to proof the hardware updates like the trunk charger and handlebar risers.
Honestly, the risers are a "50-50". They make it easier on the back and arms, but they seem to put the wrists at an unnatural angle that makes them ache after a short while, and they interfere a bit with the throttle palm rest. And if a bike is anything, it's a system of parts that must equal a functional whole. An optimization in one area as often as not leads to an issue somewhere else.
I'm happy to say it's like riding a bicycle in one regard, and the skills come back fairly quickly, with all due respect for the early-season cagers staring at their phones. And I picked up some great tips in the off-season that have made braking and cornering much more smooth and confident, with none of the "fifty-pencing" and mid-corner adjustments I felt plagued by last year. And don't get me started on that nicely lubricated brake lever - that just makes stopping a breeze.
Only a few days left to get everything packed, and then it's on... and I'm off... Onward and upward!
