Today's ride

Here are two pictures from today's ride. It was chilly, and I didn't want to go (It meant that I had to skip a nap with a certain lady to whom I am married). In the end though, it was good that I went. I did a solid 30 miles. Here is a picture from the largest hill of the day. You will notice that it is an overpass. I also took a picture of my shadow.

On the way home I had to stop at stop sign in the middle of the country because a run down yellow construction van had the right of way. As I watched it pass in front of me, it suddenly started playing music! Once it was past me, the music stopped. That's when I realized that the van was no construction van at all. It was one of the shadiest looking ice cream trucks that I have ever seen. But! it played its music just for me. How cool is that?!? The happy feeling was fleeting since I shortly thereafter became both cold and tired.

Another ride

I did another 30 miles today. That puts my total miles for 2012 at 460. It nice being outside again. The only highlight of my ride was near the 15 mile mark. There was a tractor driving down the road.

One of the best things about older tractors is that they are generally pretty slow. I tend to have an strong urge to try and pass things that are slow. It was pretty far in the distance, but I could tell that I was making up ground. It turns out that you can see awfully far ahead in a state as flat as Indiana. I chased it for about 2 miles and was getting fairly close to capturing it, but I was already past my predetermined turn around point. In the end I let it slip away to start my journey home. I probably made the right choice since I faced a stiff head wind all the way home.

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Ominous clouds on the horizon from today's ride. They were far off at the time, but they got close, and then it rained. Wet bibs are not all the fun

Back from Virginia x2

Liz and I returned from Virginia earlier this week. I am still amazed at the difference between the landscapes. I hope everyone can come visit us in the mountains. I am not sure how cycling will work. It could take a significant amount of time to transition from pancake flat Indiana to the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Virginia.

The day after we got back I went for a ride outside. It was a hard ride, and for a brief second I thought the clouds a long ways away were actually mountains. I realized they were clouds and got lost in the thought about how big those mountains really are. While in Virginia, you spend a lot of time looking up.

At some point in the ride I met up with another cyclist. We had never met before but we traded a few pulls and got to talking. His name was Paris (A perfect cycling name) and he was a nice gent. When we were about to part our respective ways he said, 'Thanks for pulling me along." First, It is a really nice thing to say. Second, It wasn't really that true.

I felt the need to respond with something equally nice or insightful. The problem was that I also quite tired. (It's hard to appear fit when you are sucking wind on the inside). At the moment, I thought a historical republican quote would be perfect. I don't know why, but it felt right. However, I don't know any republican quotes. I do however watch the Colbert Report and he often makes fun a Herman Cain (a Republican). Perfect, but not really.

Yup, before I could think about it. I responded with solid AWWW Shucky Ducky. *Facepalm* We went our separate ways after that. He probably thinks I'm a nut, but I guess that isn't to far from the truth.

Rollers again

It's probably nice enough to bike outside, but I just don't feel like being the least bit chilly. The only option was another session on the rollers. I didn't finish my dvd because Universal sports was showing a cycling race on tv. It was stage two of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Being the first big time race of the season, it is fun seeing who has good form and who is "in difficulty" (one of my favorite cycling commentator phrases).

I can honestly say that I was in difficulty during my ride tonight. I did 2o minutes at tempo, then 10 min hard, then 10 min really hard, then 20 min tempo. The two hard parts were difficult, but they were hard enough that I had to focus on keeping my speed up. The last 20 minutes were horribly difficult. My body just wanted to stop, and my brain stopped accurately processing time. Twice I subtracted my time left incorrectly and thought I was about finished only to realize I still had over 10 minutes to go. By the end, the goal was just to stay upright and keep the legs moving in circles.

Then it was done, so I ate a lot of food. 80 percent of it wasn't healthy, so I ended the consumption with a yogurt Popsicle and a cup yogurt.

All in all, a boring post, but not everything can be exciting. It you made it this far....I hope you are not in difficulty.

New dvd

I bought this to watch while I train on the rollers. Probably one of the best races of all time, and I'm still only half way through.

All of the racers look like this

The road is so slippery that riders just tip over without warning. While I typically can't stand to watch crashes, these seem to happen in slow motion and cause no serious bodily injury. After all, you can only go so fast over muddy cobblestones....

So I laugh.... and almost ride off my own rollers.

No picture today

Since securing my internship, I have been on my bike much more often. Here are the reasons for why I think this is happening.

1) Happiness = Happy behaviors

2) My stress level has dropped to a manageable level

3) I'm afraid of the Virginia mountains

4) The more I bike the less I have to work on writing my articles (they are giving me a headache)

5) I want to eat more food while not gaining any weight

6) The spring cycling classics have started. There is always a tiny tiny voice in my head that says "you could do that if you just got on your bike"

7) I bought all this stuff. I better use it.

8) I feel like a pro when I bike no matter how slow I am going.

9) I don't feel like I'm lying to people when I say I'm an avid cyclist

10) I have a recovery beer after most of my rides. They are delicious.