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!

Baby it's cold out side...

Oh man is it. There's been only indoor riding recently since the temperatures here in the northeast have dipped yet again into the sub-freezing realm, and we've been subjected to a couple more ice storms. It's bad enough to wake up to ice on the car, but it's further demoralizing when you were hoping for some good weekend weather to get out and have a nice, relaxing (but brutally hard) road ride. It really doesn't bode well when you can't walk down the side of the road without feeling like you're walking across the ice at a (insert your favorite hockey team)'s game.

On the other hand, it's easy to do structured workouts on the trainer. The Power To The Pedals program from Roadbikerider.com is a great program, and it's so easily done on the trainer as well. It's actually funny, when you think about it. We derive no joy from riding indoors on a trainer, since you really don't go anywhere at all, yet doing a workout program like that, in conjunction with watching some good TV (like last year's Giro) can make the hour go by incredibly fast.

Oh, and some good company helps as well.

Just think, mountain bike season is almost here.

Happy post Valentine's Day

Well folks, after nearly 2 weeks of blanking you all, I'm back to say happy V-Day.

Riding has been non-existent in the past few weeks. There's just too much to do with moving into a new home and starting workk. I take solace in the fact that I get VS on DirecTV and can follow Velonews. In the world of cycling, there's loads of news: Valverde being questioned by CONI, the Tour of California starting, and, as of this morning, Lance Armstrong's Livestrong time trial bike being stolen out of the team trailer.

Now, allow me to editorialize a little bit here. Whoever you are who is now in possession of an ten thousand dollar bike, you are a scumbag. You're the worst of the worst, a thief of the absolute lowest class and an affront to humanity. Who the hell is so unconscionable that they steal a bike covered in numbers representing cancer deaths? I mean, really. So much for cycling being the sport of the wealthy and high class.

I hope the Twitterati find you sir. I hope they catch up to you while you're trying to unload this beautiful and psychologically inspiring piece of carbon fibre in a dark alley to some shady hot merchandise fencer. I hope they teach you a medieval lesson in all the best Pulp Fiction-esque manners they can possibly begin to think of.

Or, you could bring it back, leave a note of apology and beg for forgiveness from the human race for existing.

*Sigh* It makes me wonder why we as general humanity haven't gone to hell in a hand basket yet.

After moving and all that funk...

...it's time to get back on the bike. I'll be starting work soon, I'll be getting a good schedule down soon, so I'll be able to actually ride my trainer on occasion. Actually, I'll have lots of time until I get TV and intarweb access in the new place, although those are coming soon.

That being said, check out the Road Bike Rider E-bookstore and pick up some training info for the coming season. Sure, there's lots of ways to train, including the "just get out and ride for a bit" but I think this year I'll actually have to structure things a little more than I have in the past. I'd like to enter a few races this season (you know, since I have a nice light bike that I can use for racing) and do some longer rides and events. Hell, I might even give a 6 hour or 12 hour event a try. It might be fun, who knows?

Anyway, no outside riding to be had any time soon. Only trainer time. Damn the snow and ice. I'm just dying to get out on the local mountain bike trails, and I'm dying to try my new Garmin 705 on an actual trail. Imagine that.

I guess I'll have to "suffer" with the Tour of California for the next couple weeks. That's going to be a great race, with an incredible field. Here's hoping to some epic early season duelling on the climbs and time trials. And let's go Garmin, let's flex those argyle muscles.

Being sick sucks.

Yes, it's entirely true. It sucks to have a cold. It sucks even more when it goes from your head into your chest and you just feel like utter crap for a few days. Riding? Tuh, forget it. Doing anything involving coherent thought? Forget it.

Even better is the fact of having to move on Saturday. Should be a joyful experience. I'm tired, I don't feel well, and I just don't feel like fighting with the cable company anymore. Bastards. That's a post for another day.

Oh, and update. The Williams Lake Classic mountain bike race will be June 14th, 2009. And it'll be the first race in the Catskill Mountain Bike Race Series. I'll be planning to train for that, for sure. Hopefully the snow will be gone by then.

Just one of those weeks...

...where you have to run yourself into the ground in order to move, finish getting together your life so you can start work, and of course, try to go for a ride. Yeah, right.

I haven't been on the trainer in about a week and I have about...oh, maybe 4 or 5 days to get my base miles in before I need to start the 12 week power program. Yes, there's a race in May that I'd like to be in some kind of shape to ride without dragging my balls behind me. I'm not expecting much, and the fact that I'm in the middle of a move and starting a new job doesn't help.

Blah. I'm rambling. Off to watch Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations."