Puckered out

Liz says "too much coding makes Liz a tired girl." Yes, that is my prelim on the table...with a Liz on my prelim.
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Hmmmm. .. Chocolate

I got my ride this afternoon. It was threatening rain the whole day, so I'm actually really happy about getting outside to ride. One thing is for sure, it is now cold out. I've been wearing tights and some under-layers, but today really called for shoe covers and a hat. Maybe next time I'll remember to wear those. I now realize I like riding in cold weather almost as much as riding in really hot weather. You just don't sweat near as much!

Due to it being cold and staring to rain, I didn't stop to take a picture. In its place is the post-ride recovery snack picture.

(Notice how the prelim paper is lurking in the background. It everywhere...... )
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Email explosion

My email is killing me. This morning I got 46 emails all of which needed response emails. My fingers are going to be tired by the end of the day.

Road closed

My first thought was, "What road can be closed to a true cyclist?"

Turns out the answer to that question was indeed: This road.

I surpassed the sign and a half mile later there was a lot of big machinery digging really big holes in the middle of the road. The backhoe was more below ground than above. The gaze from the construction workers ( who looked knee deep in mud) made it clear that my spandex kit was not as near as intimidating as it was during the pre-ride photo in front of the mirror.

New people to this blog...... VOTE for my winter goal!!!!! (on the left)

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Attempt at Intimidation

The fact that it is Veteran's Day meant I had extra time for pre-ride shenanigans. Who looks totally pro? I do. Now if only I looked this good after my bike ride.....

If there was a thought bubble it would read..."I'm going to eat this ride for dessert."

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Yup

I guilted myself into getting on the bike just so I could post about a biking adventure. Unfortunately, I had a client after work, so I wasn't able to bike outside. On the bright side, I think that my client is making lots of progress. It's nice when people get better. In fact, I think I was getting more excited about her progress than she was.

Anyway, I got home and hopped on the bike. I watched NCIS in HD!!!!! It's going to be a good winter. I also decided that gym towels are too small, and not just a little too small. I need ones that are at least 3 times as big (zoolander anyone?) A small towel is simply infuriating. After about 20 minutes it becomes worthless. Then I'm stuck with the decision of using a gross towel for the next 40 minutes or just being really gross.

= way too small

but today I discovered the perfect solution. Welcome yourselves to the era of the the Beach towel sized gym towel. Every time I wiped my brow I was met with a nice dry piece of heavenly cloth.

see. Three times as big

or I could use a shamwow

I will bike tonight.

I will bike tonight. I will post about it. There, now I have no excuses. (the plan was to bike this morning. Hahahaha. I even asked Liz to wake me up. When she did so, I vaguely remembering being borderline belligerent. Sorry Liz!)

A poll

The poll is me trying something new. I can't decide what the winter goal should be, so based on the overwhelming commenter feedback and my own personal interests, I have chosen my top 5. (For a reference point... I bike around 16 to 18 mph on my trainer)

Option 1: Bike to Amanda's house! Roughly 750 miles + hills. I might get a surprise at the end of it.

Option 2: Every year people bike across the continental United States in about 8 days. I'd be willing to let the 3000 mile trip take all winter. At the end a special dinner or something cool.

Option 3: I love Camp Roger because they help bring children into God's nature. I used to work there, and still find myself missing it often. I like giving Camp Roger some of my money, so maybe I could get some other people to donate on my behalf. It's 260 miles so maybe get people to sponsor specific miles of the trip. They need help with their camper scholarship fund which is in the red.

Option 4: I love psychology. The SURF center is a local non-for-profit organization that works with individual recovering from drug and alcohol problems. They just got evicted from their downtown location because of the lack of donations this year. Not sure exactly how to structure this one, but since they are local I could be more involved.

http://www.hs.facebook.com/pages/Surf-Center-Inc/109136229143831?v=info

Option 5: The Fat Cyclist (see side bar link) raises lots of money for cancer research through the Livestrong organization. His wife died of cancer last year, so obviously we share some passions. I could train to do an indoor century and see if people would donate some money to see me do it.

OK... your turn..... vote on the side. It's anonymous, so even if you never read this blog, please vote. I'm not sure how much my vote will count for in the end. That depends on how many people vote.

Still Alive!?!

Who knew, but grandpa Farve is still alive, throwing TDs, and forcing games into OT at the last second.

or

After last week, I think the is more althetic tape, bone pins, and padding than actual human flesh and blood. I'm pretty sure the NFL should have a rule about letting robots (at least old ones) play football.

Run Down

Liz is out of town this weekend to visit family up in Chicago. It is weird being home alone. I've just been eating left overs and trying really hard not to make a huge mess of the apt in her absence. (trying doesn't equal succeeding, so I'll be cleaning up this afternoon in a big way.)

This morning I played in the praise band at church for the first time. It went ok. I wasn't the only acoustic playing, so that helped calm me down a whole lot. There is one song that I worked out a cool picking line to go over top of the other guitar's strumming. I think everyone liked it. All in all it well enough to do it again in the future.

I have and haven't been biking a lot lately. I'm sort of in a Mon, Wed, Thurs groove. I could have biked this weekend, but I was either dreaming of biking or doing homework. Maybe I'll get outside tomorrow.

Last thing, the prelim process is the worst. Without Liz's help, I am sure that I would not be able to finish it. Thank goodness we are already married and she is stuck with me!!!

Goals

As the winter season is quickly approaching, I'm trying to think of some motivating goals to help me stay on the bike through the winter. Liz has frequently, and correctly so, noted that I do better when I am working towards a goal. It's true. I find it much easier to get up and going when there is something that I'm training for or working towards. Up until now, it has always been getting in shape for racing, but winter training is more focused on simply logging miles on the bike. A simple mileage goal is not good enough to motivate me. I just know it wouldn't do the trick. There isn't enough excitement of an end point. When you get to 400 miles there is no celebration and it's just time to keep going.

So.... What does everyone (all 10 people that read this blog) think would be a good goal for the winter? I've been thinking about trying to ride the Race Across America route indoors, I could track my progress on a map. There is a clear end point. However, I'm not sold on that idea yet. In fact, I'm sure there is something better. Lot of cyclists are motivated to bike by combining their passion/hobby with their altruism. Case and point: fatcyclist.com and drums up money huge amounts of money for cancer research. (+1 for improper idiom) While an endeavor of this nature is way more scary, I wonder if I too could use something that I enjoy doing to benefit others. Talk about motivating!!!!! (I really had to resist typing "MO..TI...VATE...ING")

This is where I need help though..... I'm looking for ideas that people have. I'm lucky enough to know that that people who read this blog know me well enough to know my personality and what types of things might make for a meaningful and compelling winter training period (+3 for three "knows" in a sentence.) If you don't know me, I'm glad you have managed to read this far in the post! please feel free to leave ideas too.

Leave your ideas in the comments (even if they are ridiculous!)

Also a thought LIVESTRONG????