I love using Strava.  I use it for cycling and running.  And here’s the best part, it’s global.  I’ve logged segments in Spokane, Washington, Boulder, Colorado and most recently, Ogden, Utah on the XTERRA USA Championship bike course at the Snow Basin Resort.

I have a handful of favorite segments in Spokane but one of my favorites is called the “Tour de Rutter”.  It’s a 7.2 mile course with a total elevation gain of only 474 feet.  It feels much more challenging during a few short sections but overall it’s pretty fast.

My best time so far is 21:39.  My average speed was 19.9 mph.  I’m currently fourth on the leader board.  My friend and professional triathlete, Josh Hadway holds the top spot and I don’t expect to catch him but just knowing how fast he’s gone is motivation to keep trying.

Even though my road triathlon season is over this year (11 races in all), I’m still riding my Quintana Roo CD0.1.  It’s  so darn nice out right now and it won’t last for long before the bitter cold hits the Inland Northwest.  I’m actually rotating between riding my Cohutta Litespeed mt. bike because I have one more off-road triathlon this year, the XTERRA World Championship in Maui on October 28th.

Today (Sunday, September 30th) I decided to give the Tour de Rutter another try just to see how I was feeling.  Yesterday I ran nearly 19 miles in preparation for the NYC Marathon so I wasn’t expecting any fireworks.  To make things more interesting, I added my GoPro HD Video camera on my tri-bars and recorded the ride.  Below is that video, condensed down from 22:43 to about 3 and a half minutes.

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