Cranking and burning...

Today was "one of those days" packed with too much to do, too little time to do it and no chance to breathe... some people call it "Monday". (I hate that day.)



Since I have the punkin, aka Masidaughter 1.0, this week I didn't get to go on a lunch ride- because I leave early to pick her up from school. However, with the day I had, I really, really needed a ride. So, as I have done for many years, once punkin was in bed and asleep I headed outside with the rollers and the fixed gear. Thankfully, my wife really encourages me to do so... probably because she lives with me and knows what a mess I become when I'm too stressed out and don't ride.



After a solid hour of burying myself into the pedals and that smallish 46x16 gear, I now feel a little more human and a lot more sane... not to mention a few pounds lighter after sweating like an ox (I'm fairly sure my long sleeve wool jersey now weighs about 8 lbs). My legs weren't really into the whole thing for the first 10 minutes, but as they warmed up they began to feel great and eventually felt incredible. I ran out of water with about 15min to go and then ran out of music with about 10 to go... which was far more bothersome since I rely so heavily on my music to stay focused on my workout when I'm on the rollers. I held on though and pedaled through the distractions to reach that place where the pain in the legs went mostly away and the frustrations in the mind became a lot softer.

And now for the numbers... 1:00:32, 20.8av/40.3mx MPH, 21.08mi, 92av/181mx RPM, 147av/163mx HR. That max speed of 40.3 is my favorite number because I don't think I've hit that number before on the rollers on the 46x16 gearing. I've hit nearly 50 with my geared road bike on the rollers, but don't think I've hit the 40+ mark with such a small gear before tonight... which again gives me hope. (Unfortunately, my form was really terrible at that speed and I rolled off the rollers and grazed the fence... but we won't bring that up...)

Now it's time for bed so that I can hit the ground running for another truly crazy day tomorrow. But for tonight at least, I'll sleep the sleep of the truly tired... thankfully.

Tim