What am I on?

Well, it's not my bike. I haven't ridden all week. Too much shit to work through.

Title?

Not sure what to call this one.

I'm feeling much better today. A lot of my semi-slow friends are off racing the Battle the Bear. With highs in the 80s here in Denver (the race is just down the road), and no shade on the course whatsoever, I'm skipping. Well, I'm skipping because of the way I've felt this week. I've got a grand total of 3.5 hours on the bike as of Tuesday. Usually by Saturday morning I'll have 6-9 hours under the belt.

Anyway, I'm sitting here on the couch drinking my French Pressed Pablo's French Roast coffee. Good stuff! They roast on Tuesday's. You also save $2 per pound if you buy on Tuesdays, so a pound is only $10. I went in a few Tuesdays ago, and the beans had been roasted only 3 hours prior to my purchase. Man does that make a difference. Even with some other roasters in the area that I like, sometimes the coffee has a slight bitterness to it from being a touch stale. This stuff didn't have that until about 2.5 weeks after I bought it.

Several years ago, I actually went skiing with the guy that owns this place. At that point, the shop was on 14th St. in downtown Denver. Now he has moved out to 6th and Washington. If you're ever in the area, check it out.


Well, I guess I'll get out and test the legs a little today. I'm starting to wonder if this past weeks condition has been more from fighting a sickness. I had a sinus infection kick up about a month ago. I haven't had one of those since I moved to Denver 8 years ago. Down in the Dirty South, I used to get them every spring and fall. I've been trying to avoid the antibiotics since the infection cropped up in the middle of an important training block. After Angel Fire (Chili Challenge), I may have to give in and get some.

One more thing to note. Apparently if you mention Floyd Landis in your blog, you will get a ton of hits. My blog was on fire (well, on fire for my blog) after posting that little article about Greg LeMond. Most of you know what has happened since. I don't know what to make of this whole three ring circus. At a minimum, I'm greatly disappointed. I may post on that later.

uh oh

Well, I've pushed my luck. I'm deep in the valley of fatigue and have felt like crap all week. It reminds me of years past, but not last year. Things clicked last year.

It's partially my fault. I had some lack of discipline in some areas. My training schedule seemed a little funky this year. I think I kicked my self over the edge with my semi-bonk in the race on Saturday and my choice of ride Sunday.

There hasn't been much riding for me this week. I also rested quite a bit, but today I felt worse than I have all week. I guess I'll rest up this weekend and hopefully get things rolling by Tuesday to get myself ready for next weekend.

Huh?

Ok, I had a training ride today. It wasn't cold, it wasn't raining or snowing, and it wasn't windy. I was very confused. It was a beautiful night with a nice sunset.

My numbers looked good again. I was rested, but not fresh. Just last week I was beginning to think I was on the verge of overtraining, but things seem back to normal. I guess that's a good thing.

Finally

It's been over a month, but I finally made it outside for a ride on Sunday. I attended a little get-together on Saturday night which caused me to get to bed late. That, in turn, caused me to get up late, which eliminated skate skiing for the day.

I couldn't handle the prospect of 3 hours on the trainer, so I busted out the cyclocross bike for a ride. I thought maybe the roads and paths would be clear enough for the road bike. They weren't, and I was glad I opted for the CX bike. The route I rode took me an hour longer than it normally would have due to all the hard pack ice. At times, it was sort of like mountain biking. Good times, but no pictures. I need to look into getting a new camera.



I picked up this jacket at EMS' online store for a total of $45. Pretty nice jacket for skiing, and if I were still running, it would be nice for that too. It's got an MP3 player pocket on the sleeve and a chest pocket where I put my Garmin and/or food. There are two downfalls to the jacket. It's made for skinny folk in the sleeves and shoulders but feels like it is made for less fit folk in the stomach area. It's also not windproof, but I didn't really notice that when I was skiing on Saturday. There were some decent gusts that day.

Here are the two motionbased.com files for the weekend.
Skate Ski
Ride

40k Today

Ouch. Felt a little vomitous at the end. Haven't felt that way in a while.

Clarification: On skis.

I need a BEER

Have you ever had one of those days, or in my case couple of weeks, where you constantly say to yourself, "man, I need a beer (or your drink of choice)." Well, I've been saying that for a couple of weeks like I alluded to before. I've been resisting, except for my obligatory Saturday night beers, for the sake of training. How lame. Anyone else do this?

A Love/Hate Relationship

Actually it's more hate than love. Come to think of it, there is no love at all. All cyclists see it as a necessary evil. I guess I love to go fast when it is time, and if you want to do that, you gotta use one of these.

I spent 7 hours on mine last week, and have 3 on it so far this week. The heavy trainer season is just starting. It's time to suck it up and start working those squares into circles.

The one pictured above is a fancier looking model than mine. It's a Volare fluid trainer. This will be my 6th season deepening the rut in the resistance wheel. That's a bazillion hours. That rut is deep, but it still gives me the resistance I need.

Weekend In Pictures

The Thumb


The top of a big hill. Appropriate name?


Results of the infamous pine beetle.



Views from Sunday's ride.