Hello Spring!

Hello sunshine! It's been too long since your sparkling rays have warmed the dank and depressed earth here in NY. Amazingly, you've managed to show yourself after a record setting run of snow...good for you.

Yes indeed, with the sunshine and 60 degree days comes the thrill of RIDING OUTSIDE! Mind you that the trails are still covered in snow and ice (thanks snowmobiles) but the roads are mostly dry. The only problem is the excess of sand, salt and cinders that can shred even the toughest tires in seconds.

Sunday we shocked the world with a 35 mile ride, with nearly 2000 feet of climbing, and we finished feeling awesome. Fitness wise, I'm actually at a point which I was at in the middle of May last year. That's what only 4 weeks of indoor training will do for you. I am able to ride all the climbs that gave me even the slightest hint of trouble last year, and now I'm doing them almost effortlessly and using larger gearing (I manned up and swapped out my compact double for a standard double this year.) The only downside of this was a flat tire in the driveway of all places, then another flat on the road, and finally a third flat when the valve core of the presta valve inexplicably disappeared. Incredible, that's all I have to say.

Today, since I was given the green light to do nothing in honour of my birthday (another year older, another mark off my max heart rate, I know....) I took my newly built cyclocross bike out for a jaunt. 25 miles later, I've learned that there is a big difference between my 16.9 pound road bike in it's climbing garb, and my 24 pound cross bike with boat anchor wheels. No flats this time around, probably because those tires are thicker than a doormat. Oh well, it's good training nonetheless, and I'm more than happy to be able to get out and ride in March of all times.



And so, as spring hits us head on, I beg of you to get out there and ride. Test your form, enjoy the spring air and keep the rubber side down.

After a long hiatus...

Here we are again. Yes, it's been nearly 2.5 months since my last update, but there has been good reason for such an issue. I have been very heavily training for the Philadelphia Livestrong Challenge for the past couple of months. This has meant that weekends have been spent consuming pasta, riding copious miles on my (new-to-me carbon) road bike, and practicing how to suffer mightily at the hands of steep and long slopes.

Why? What's the point?

I have two family members who were claimed by cancer, and I wanted to help the Lance Armstrong Foundation to put this mean bastard to rest, once and for all. So I trained, I trained hard, I suffered, I considered giving up, but I persevered. I rode the 100 mile Challenge, which also happened to be my first ever century (I only began road riding last year, and I was pretty much unable to complete even the metric we tried last year.) What a century to start with, right? 100 miles in 85 degree heat, 90% humidity, sunshine blazing down on the roads....it was fantastic.





So, right on.

Now it's back to relaxing. No more training schedules of 75 miles on Saturday, recovery ride Sunday, intervals Monday, etc etc. From here on out, it's going to be "mountain bike whenever I feel like it, road ride to keep some fitness, and drink beer as necessary."

I've been looking very longingly at my long neglected mountain bikes hanging in my garage. My Dawg has been whimpering at me, wondering why he hasn't been run in a while, and my King is still asking when his first race will be. Well champ, hopefully I'll have a free weekend here and there to make that happen.

Here's mud in your eye.

Yet more rain...

It has been utterly disgusting how much water has condensed and fallen from the skies in the past few weeks. It seems like we've actually had maybe 2 sunny days per week here in the north east, and that seems to put a damper on the amount of riding one can do. Although the road miles are racking up pretty quickly (what with all the long training rides while waiting for the trails to dry out) and the fitness is good, that's no substitute for getting out and getting dirty.

In fact, this season has been something of a renaissance for fat tire riding for me. Since we've been training ourselves nuts for the Livestrong Challenge and the Harlem Valley Metric Century, riding a mountain bike has been less about training and getting faster than it has been about goofing off, having fun and kicking it old school, with not a care in the world.

Oh yes, and since I have an iPhizzle, I should be able to update from any place, at any time. Maybe even in the no-man's land of Vermont when I go and hit Kingdom Trails again this year.

Yup. That's about the half of it. A new appreciation for mountain bikes, some thrills on the road, no crashes yet this year and a couple of lofty goals...it's a good season so far.

TGIF...and Happy Easter.

Another April Fool's day has come and gone, another Easter is now upon us. Since we as humans tend to look at holidays with a sense of amazement and we regard them as a milestone in the passing of time. How often do we hear "wow, it's Easter already?" or "Wow, how can it be 4th of July already? Where has the time gone?" So as the march of time wears on, we pass holiday after holiday and occasionally consider what we've accomplished to this point in the year.

As a cyclist, we find that holidays are less important to gauging what has been accomplished in life than the general populace. Our accomplishments are measured as races and calendar events, training miles and hill climb times. Every race day becomes a holiday, another chance to cut loose and measure our progress. Many people life their lives by the professional racing calendar, wringing their hands in anticipation of races like Paris-Roubaix, Ronde Von Vlaanderen and Liege-Bastonge-Liege (I apologize in advance for my horrendous spelling, but I am French language retarded.)

Holidays are tough times of the year for cyclists. We love spending time with our family, but there's an interesting dichotomy in that our bikes are often considered family, or very nearly so. All too often, a holiday affords us a day off from work, which would be considered a gift of family time. There always is a tough decision to make: human family or bike family? The tyranny of the work week can often drive us to crave the freedom of the open road (or trail) as an outlet for our stresses, frustrations and emotions, and the gift of a day without paperwork, phone calls or meetings is a godsend. However, when we consider the two families at odds with one another, it becomes a balancing act of epic proportions.

So what can you do? You've got all day, a gift from "the man", and you need to get your fix. Ride early, ride late, ride with your other family, or just plain ride. Your other family will understand. They'll see the grin, feel the aura of happiness and joy, and all will be right in the world.

Just don't overcook the ham by going on a ride and forgetting it's in the oven.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Whatever. Ride tough, keep the rubber side down.

Oh, that farmer's tan.

There's nothing better than that point in the season in which you get your first cycling sun burn. Here in the northeast, we've been stuck in the throes of a miserable winter for what seems like eternity. Recently, we've been lucky enough to get a couple warm days here and there which have allowed time on the road. Trails are too wet still, but a couple more days of sunshine should be all they need to dry out.

I can't fricken' wait, but still, it's nice to be outside enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine just the same. Although, there's no better way to get base miles and feel good on a bike than to chill out on a road bike, hitting some wicked climbs and screaming descents. Who knew that road riding could be such a thrill?

On a little more thrilling note, I've signed on to ride the Livestrong challenge in Philadelphia this August. So that means I have about 5 months to get ready to ride a century with nine thousand feet of climbing. Shouldn't be too difficult, right? My ass will be the color of sangria by the time I'm done with that thing. Preparation is key, and I've got my racing and event calendar planned out already. Mountain bike race in June, metric century in July, and the Livestrong in August. One good solid event per month should have me enough incentive to put the training time in and keep me having some fun at the same time.

Anyway, I need to go and prevent my future dear wife from punting my cat across the room. Such civil unrest...

Woo hah, daylight savings time.

The first sign of the beginning of cycling season is the extension of daylight, courtesy of the federal gubbermint. Maybe it doesn't save a lot of energy, but it sure does help me expend a bit more. I love the fact that in the middle of March, I still have daylight on my drive home (although it IS usually about 6:30, and too late for a ride.)

Of course, even if the after work ride isn't happening yet, at least I know that the temperatures will be warming up and the nice weather will mean lots of weekend thrills.

That being said, my buddy, Bikeroutetoaster.com is helping me guide myself (through the magic of Garmin 705 gps love) through some wickedly cool routes. Give them some love, they deserve it.

And start riding ya bums!

Yee HAW! Sunny days and rolling tires!

FINALLY! A weekend with sunny skies, warmer temperatures and a lack of wind/rain/snow was in the cards. Yes, I could have posted a little earlier, but there's been absolutely nothing to post other than "trainer again, more snow, freezing cold" ad nauseum. The weekend was a gift of sun and mid 50s temperatures, and although trails are a swampy mess of runoff water and oily mud, the roads were clear and inviting.

22 miles on Saturday, 10 on Sunday and around 2500 feet of vertical gain were served up with a healthy dose of humility; damn it is early in the season to be hitting it that hard. Trainer miles just don't compare to hitting actual eight and ten percent grades out on the open road.

Ahh, but the joy of having the wind whip through the vents in your helmet, the feel of tires at the limit of adhesion on a screaming descent, and the almost nostalgic pain of climbing for miles on end just made the weekend perfect. Pasta and homemade bolognese following a quick scrub-down of the soiled road racer reminds me that yes, the season is coming. It's already here. Time to giddyup!