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

And so it goes...

Yes- for those keeping score, I fell asleep again last night before I could get on the rollers. There... I admit; I'm getting old. Time for dinner at 4:00, re-runs of Matlock and Murder She Wrote and bed by 9:00. I guess it's all down hill from here... well, until the baby is born.

So, umm, yeah... I was asleep by 9:00, but at least this time I managed to make it to my bedroom first. My neck was killing me, so I tried to lie on the bed with my head hanging to the side- turns out that was kinda comfortable. Oh well.

Today I took my daughter to her dance and guitar lessons- the punkin is too damned cute! Her mother is the one who has set up both the dance and guitar lessons, so I can not take any credit for being anything other than a chauffeur and bystander. Still, it's amazingly cute to watch a room full of 5-9yr old girls doing tap and jazz dance. How I don't get caught giggling is beyond me.

Ann went swimming before the classes, so after we got home from the lessons, I hopped on the bike for a 2hr-ish ride. The weather is starting to turn, since there are storms coming, so the wind was a little bit of a factor... though not that much. The skies were cool and grey, so the temp was beginning to drop as I headed out around 2:00. My legs felt ok- the power was there when I was trying to push the pedals, but I never felt very good overall. My heart rate was consistently too high and I always felt a bit short of breath. Just felt "off" the entire time. My neck and shoulders were unhappy, the cardio systems was wonky... but the legs didn't seem to mind the work. So, who knows... we'll see what happens tomorrow morning when I get out again. Stats; 1:56:32, 17.6av/33.9mx MPH, 34.33mi, 75av/128mx RPM- HR was somehow lost... but the numbers were not favorable anyway. It was nice that I didn't feel even worse after 2 days of not riding and the little bit of leg weights I did yesterday. Maybe I'll survive after all... maybe.

I began the day around 207lbs and was down to 203.8 after the ride. Still not close to my fighting weight... but closer than I was a few weeks ago!

Tim

Another day in the sun on a bike!

Let's get the numbers out of the way... shall we? 2:28:34, 18.3av/ 41.1mx MPH, 45.65mi, 74av/ 221mx RPM, 150av/ 175mx HR. I rode from my place up the coast to Solana Beach via Sorrento Valley and then headed back home via Torrey Pines. I won't pretend that I felt awesome, but I did feel better than I expected after the good two hours yesterday. Truthfully, I probably started the ride off a little harder than I shoulda, but I got into an early rhythm after my legs loosened up. The bulk of the ride North seemed almost exclusively headwind, while the return trip was more crosswind than tailwind (how is that possible).

I climbed Torrey with a good rhythm and actually felt pretty good, all things considered, but it was humbling to remember the days when I climbed the hill in my big ring at 17-20MPH instead of in the small ring and almost in the bailout gear, inching along at 10MPH. Granted, I was also 30+ lbs lighter when I climbed like that. But still...

The last 5 miles of the ride felt like pedalling through molasses, as my legs began to fade away quickly. I'm not sure if it was the cumulative effect of two days of riding hard or lack of proper fueling along the way... but I was riding on some pretty shaky fumes by the time I had to climb up the last mean climb, Washington, to get back home. I crested the climb in the granny gear and just short of wobbling... but I made it home with an exhausted smile.

I hope I can keep this momentum going as long as possible- I'm hoping to have a date with destiny June 12-13 for California State Master's Track Championships. I'd like to hallucinate that I could get fit enough to contend for a medal in one of my events... so I'll need a lot more wobbly days on the bike!

I admit that I am luckier than I deserve some days. Thanks to the connections I have through a good friend in Denver, I've gotten the chance to "meet" Alison Dunlap in the past few months. I'm not even a "real mountain biker" and getting to email with a former World Champion is pretty exciting to me. I mean... she IS Alison Dunlap after all! I watched a lot of her racing career, from the multiple national titles in cyclo-cross and MTB, all the way to those rainbow stripes. She's an amazing ambassador for the sport, as well as an incredibly nice person. Needless to say, each time I get an email from her, I get pretty excited when I see her name pop up in my email... I mean... Alison Dunlap!

Anyway, here's a part of the last email I got today;

"I'm doing my first live forum on mtbr.com on Tuesday from 11-2pm PST."

Alison is kinda new to jumping into the online world and Social Media- which is part of how we got introduced- so this forum is new and exciting for her. If you have the time and desire to ask a question or two of a World Champion, former Olympian and coach... you should swing by mtbr.com and drop her a note... tell'er the Masiguy sent you! (FYI... stay tuned here for a possible upcoming exclusive Masiguy interview/"funterview" with Alison...)

You've hopefully heard of this; if not, I suggest checking it out and joining to help stop hateful stupidity. I'm all for freedom of speech, but hate speech is kinda hard to defend. Take a second to join the group and leave a message of encouragement and support, if you're so inclined.

Big day tomorrow- my wife and I go to the doctor for her first US doctor visit and baby check up. Needless to say, we're both on pins and needles in anticipation. It's gonna be a big, exciting day... to say the least.

Alright, I'm beat... heading to bed. See you kids in the daylight.

Tim