Day 2 of 2 hour rides

I guess 2day was my 2-fer, of sorts; my 2nd day of 2hr rides... although 2day was more like 2.5hrs (2:22:45), but who's counting? (Aside from me, that is.)

I got another 43.59mi in today, mostly along the coast before the rains began to arrive. I first left the house without my arm warmers, but had to turn around and get them as the temp began to drop as soon as I rolled out the door. The winds were beginning to pick up and the temp was dropping, but the tunes were playing and the legs were turning. Yesterday's ride just never felt quite right, with the hear rate too high and the lungs not feeling all that lung-ish. Today was not a 180 degree reversal, but it was a big difference- even riding solo in the wind.

Yesterday, I just never felt like I was getting things to "click", but today was different. The wind was a real battle at times, but overall I felt so much better and more fluid. The pedals didn't feel like they were fighting me and I felt like I was able to sustain power longer, though I still felt like an old-fat-outta-shape-guy when going uphill. At more than 200lbs, it's clear that I am not in my earlier mountain goat shape of (many) years past. BUT... it was good to feel like I was giving power to the pedals from the base of the climb to the top of it... well, mostly.

The best feeling was that I was able to recover from a less than stellar day yesterday and ride a lot better today. That gives me hope. Maybe, just maybe, I can return to some level of fitness this year. Not feeling completely like crap has me considering racing at one of the local crits- which I have won in the past- on February 7th, 2 days after returning from a week long trip to Nevada, where I will be riding while working. It might be a great way to test how far off the back I am, compared to all those who have been training hard all winter. Luckily, I know the course really well and have a good record of placings there, so I can ride the race more on brains than legs... if I focus. However, sadly, it's a 50 minute race (which I am not prepared for) and it's a 1/2/3/4 field... which means it's gonna be damned fast!

We'll see...

I spent part of the day working with my daughter on a school "Biomimicry" project for Science Night. It's an inventor's project, where you are only limited by imagination and not reality. The assignment was to "invent" something that mimics nature, but does not necessarily have to be "good for the environment"... but is not allowed to be destructive or gross. Easy enough! So, Punkin created Robo Turtle; it's a mechanical turtle that patrols the forest at National or State parks eating litter and transforming it into toys for kids that can't buy their own. The shell is made of solar panels that supply power and recharge a master battery. When it is full, it returns to the home base to be emptied and then returns to look for more litter. It also has sensors to alert the Rangers if there are forest fires. This way, less privileged kids can have free toys, the rangers can concentrate on real work and the parks can stay clean and trash free! (Is it any wonder why I love this kid?)

Tim