Winter training has began, started in lashing rain

Now, that's what I call rain. Today the weather seemed like it'll never get better, seriously. I was "lucky" enough to enjoy every bit of the proper Irish rainy day during my training session up on the Leadmines and Threerock.

To top that I started my spin with a puncture repair... I took the bike out of the back of my car and there it was: I didn't even get to seat on the bike I did realize that the rear wheel has a puncture. Quick repair and I was on my way to have one hell of a wet day on the bike. :)

The gateway to my new "playground"

I cycled through Dundrum and Stepaside towards my first destination of the spin which was one of my new favourite place, Leadmines. I started to go there a bit more often than I did before and I have to say: it is a cool place to be on the mountain bike. The pretty heavy rain had it's effect on the trails, everything was super slippery and muddy. All the exposed roots were a beast to ride, especially on the Epic MTB club course. It was fantastic! :)

The "blessing" from the sky just kept coming in massive dosis

After my spin on Leadmines I got back to the road that leads back to the city and started to head up towards my old time favourite place, Threerock. 

The tarmac road climb was unbelievable: there was literally a river coming down from the hill! The amount of water on the surface of the road and on the side was crazy. So I did fight my way up on the river in still lashing rain and started my usual off-road session on the super muddy trails. 'Cause the weather wasn't cold and I was fully soaked technically from about 5 minutes into the spin I did not bother too much about the rain, just had fun on the bike. The Boneshaker downhill bit was one of the best descent of the day with some super deep "V" shaped erosion marks on the trails and with huge amount of water. It was like rafting on the bike! Cool! :)

Elevation graph of the spin

Today I have covered 38 km of distance under 2 hours and 10 minutes with 775 m of total elevation gain. The spin wasn't too long but considering the savage weather conditions with lashing rain I think it was long enough to get back to my regular training routine.

I had it planned for the 1st of November to get back into my normal training routine and start my winter preparation for the next season but I felt very good on the bike today and the pace of the spin was nice and intense it did not caunt as an easy off-season ride for sure. So I guess the winter training has launched a bit earlier for me, so bring it on! :)