This would be a "blogging the cat" kind of blog post... if I only had a cat.
Well, I'm neck deep in a major case of "gotta get a bunch of shit done". Got important meetings going on this week, so I've been in the office later than usual this week- stayed an hour late yesterday and another two hours today. That said, I did still get out long enough to ride my bike at lunch again.
We've been blessed the past few days at least with some incredible weather here in SoCal- with apologies to my friends covered in snow. My lunch ride at noon today was 78 degrees and totally sunny with barely any real wind. I rode from the office West towards the coast in total, glorious sunshine. I did the spin on my fixed gear for the first time in months and the never-a-flat-spot roads around the office were kicking my ass. That 46x16 gear felt really tall today with those stubby 170 track crank arms. Still, as much as I could, I gave it a good effort and "gave it some stick"- 48:41, 17.9av/ 36.3mx MPH, 14.62mi, 78av/ 162mx RPM, 145av/ 170mx HR. It ain't like I lit the road on fire or anything, but lemme tell you that hitting that 36.3MPH x 162RPM high felt like my motor was redlined! Tomorrow, if I get to take my lunch ride, I'm gonna be spinning easy on a geared bike! Riding fixed is pretty much my favorite way to ride, but I gotta ease my way back into this build up in training so I don't put myself into another hole.
All of this recent riding on my fixed, especially with the hard efforts I put in Sunday, has apparently damaged my brain though- in a moment of certain low blood sugar and glycemic feebleness, I was Tweeting all kinds of nonsense about considering making an attempt at the age graded (40+ this year) Hour Record in the "traditional"/ Merckx style without any aero equipment. Obviously I hadn't eaten enough after my ride. I mean... I can't even finish a Points Race on the track lately and I'm spouting off about considering an attempt on the Hour. It's pretty clear I was out of my mind at that moment. I know I wasn't drunk, which would be the only other logical explanation...
... still... there's something to it. I mean... if I could get fit enough. If I could get somebody to help me motorpace on the track and on the road. If I can get the lower back flexibility working again so I can stay deep in the drops for a solid hour of pulling up hard on the pedals. And if I could get the time needed in the Home Depot/ ADT indoor velodrome...
... I mean, it's crazy and possibly suicidal- especially considering my upcoming travel schedule and the impending birth of my second daughter by mid-April, but...
... every real bicycle racer at least once considers the Hour in their career. Not that I'm a "real bicycle racer", but I'd like to pretend.
Tim
(PS- My wife is really starting to look pregnant now! Her 5' frame is looking pretty round around the midsection these days. She's still swimming at the pool nearly every day and has a very slim and petite figure everywhere that isn't pregnant. Oh... and her navel has inverted... much to her disgust.)
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2 comments:
its paying off, you went from 581 to 580 today, congrats. [glad to see big papa is out putting in the work, the young guns on the team are gunning for you, i have no idea were they got the idea that you were alpha, no clue]
I'm old, not dead... I'll keep doing the work until I can't anymore.
I'm sure the kids can pretty much ALL out-climb my lardass these days. Hopefully this old dog still has a few tricks left up his sleeve. If nothing else, maybe at least I can teach them something.
Besides, I gotta drop some weight before I have to up the sizes on my team kits.
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