Time flies when you're having fun. Actually time flies when you're trying to juggle a bunch of things all at the same time.
Let's start with some cycling goodness. I think I'm one of the few people that was happy to see the yellow jersey slip between Evans' fingers. Every magazine article, conversation or interview prior to the Tour put Evans on some sort of sacred ground. Don't get me wrong, I think he is one of the most talented cyclists riding right now but I felt that people were putting all their eggs in one basket. This past year showed that one man can't overcome all obstacles, it takes a team that works together and constantly has the back of the other members.
One of my goals this season was to ride 400km a week. The obvious reason is that I love riding, but I found that I do some of my best work while on the bike. Now I don't take a laptop and spreadsheets with me but I do take a mini digital recorder. This past season has so far produced some of my best work. At the start of the season I found my rides were getting cut short or pushed aside due to writing, calling and setting things up before I forgot some detail. The recorder came to my rescue and the mileage has been staying steady and some weeks even surpassing my goal. The rain this past week has put a bit of a cramp on hitting the road but it can't rain forever, right?
I trust that all of you are able to get out and enjoy some rides. Lets burn some calories and keep the rubber side down.
Next Entry: Is that a ...?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Could she be the one?
Yesterday I found myself caressing one of the most exquisite bikes. At first glance it didn't do that much for me, but upon closer inspection my heart started to race and my palms got sweaty. The owner of my LBS smiled and asked if I would be interested in taking a ride on her.
I was on her and cruising down the street before his front door had a chance to mark my departure with a ring of the door chime.
She danced underneath me and seemed to anticipate my every move. Lighter than what I'm used to(she's sub 15lbs), stiff but not so much my body vibrated over some bad patch of road and fluid to the point I felt she was doing all the work. I had a concern that she would be skittish around corners, but proved me wrong on each one we rounded together.
Her technical name is Z3 and after some research I found she was named dream bike of the year. Then I saw her sister Z1 and actually quivered at the idea of being with her. I've been considering the things we would do together and the places we would go.
I loved our limited time together Z3, but your sister in all her mystery has my heart pounding.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
On the move with music
I'm happy to say that the past few weeks have been busy with some great rides. I enjoy going out with others but find that when I ride alone I tend to push myself a little harder.
Last weekend I found myself alone infront of my cycling club's LBS because I had missed the start time of the ride. I had to pop into work and got caught longer than expected. I knew the route they were taking so I decided that I would follow the route and if by some fluke I caught up to them great, but if not no harm done. The club had decided to do a 130km course with some great(quad ripping) climbs scattered throughout the route. I knew this was where I would make up some of the time they had gained on me as I love to climb and tend to be faster than the others on the hills.
After 50km I found myself north of the city with a 10km stretch of rollers out ahead, low and behold there they are in the distance cresting the third of five rollers I counted. I knew that after the five there was a flat section of a few kilometers and then a real bruiser of a hill. I decided that my goal was to catch up by the base of the bruiser and hit the front of the pack to assault the climb. I picked up my pace a bit and started to play a few songs in my head. Music has always been a great motivator for me so it's not uncommon for my fellow riders to see me bobbing my head or humming during an increase of tempo or pace.
I was within 50 meters of the back of the pack as they started the climb and one of the riders looked behind and called out. I brought my head up and picked it up even more to come along side of him. He said he heard some singing( way off key), looked around and saw me. I didn't realize that I had been singing and kind of feel sorry that he had to hear it.
I made my up to the front of the pack and took turns pacing the rest with the leaders. When we finally hit flatter ground, everyone welcomed me into the pack and some jokes were made about me sleeping in. They asked when I left the LBS, and we realized that they had a 35min. head start on me. We all agreed that was impossible and compared routes and computers. I was the first to dismiss the idea I had caught up to them with such a lead out because I am by no means a strong enough rider to reel in a lead like that.
At the end of the ride I took a look at my computer and found that my average speed was 7km/h faster than usual and my distance was the same as the rest of the pack. We all decided that it was just one of those days for me and from now on they were always going to leave without me so I can produce those kinds of numbers.
I had the best of both worlds that day; I rode alone and produced some great results and was able able to share them with fellow riders.
Last weekend I found myself alone infront of my cycling club's LBS because I had missed the start time of the ride. I had to pop into work and got caught longer than expected. I knew the route they were taking so I decided that I would follow the route and if by some fluke I caught up to them great, but if not no harm done. The club had decided to do a 130km course with some great(quad ripping) climbs scattered throughout the route. I knew this was where I would make up some of the time they had gained on me as I love to climb and tend to be faster than the others on the hills.
After 50km I found myself north of the city with a 10km stretch of rollers out ahead, low and behold there they are in the distance cresting the third of five rollers I counted. I knew that after the five there was a flat section of a few kilometers and then a real bruiser of a hill. I decided that my goal was to catch up by the base of the bruiser and hit the front of the pack to assault the climb. I picked up my pace a bit and started to play a few songs in my head. Music has always been a great motivator for me so it's not uncommon for my fellow riders to see me bobbing my head or humming during an increase of tempo or pace.
I was within 50 meters of the back of the pack as they started the climb and one of the riders looked behind and called out. I brought my head up and picked it up even more to come along side of him. He said he heard some singing( way off key), looked around and saw me. I didn't realize that I had been singing and kind of feel sorry that he had to hear it.
I made my up to the front of the pack and took turns pacing the rest with the leaders. When we finally hit flatter ground, everyone welcomed me into the pack and some jokes were made about me sleeping in. They asked when I left the LBS, and we realized that they had a 35min. head start on me. We all agreed that was impossible and compared routes and computers. I was the first to dismiss the idea I had caught up to them with such a lead out because I am by no means a strong enough rider to reel in a lead like that.
At the end of the ride I took a look at my computer and found that my average speed was 7km/h faster than usual and my distance was the same as the rest of the pack. We all decided that it was just one of those days for me and from now on they were always going to leave without me so I can produce those kinds of numbers.
I had the best of both worlds that day; I rode alone and produced some great results and was able able to share them with fellow riders.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
