back from the beach

I have been back from sea level for 2 days now and I have yet to ride my bike. Jelly beans and gum drops for almost a week has really made me lethargic. I feel like I need just another candy bar or soda. I am in the cycle of junk food.

I intend to head out and get back into the riding routine later today. The effort necessary to get me out there is going to be herculean. However, I have been here before and I have surmounted this obstacle time and time again.

All in all, despite the lapse back into the toxic diet of the canaille, the vaction was good. The 4 days spent in the Magic Kingdom were particularly great due to the fact that I didn't have to get behind the wheel the entire time. The car is a horrible thing. Not only is it bad for the health of the earth, I believe it is bad for the health of the individual driving the thing. All kinds of unpleasant things go on in the mind and body of the automobile driver.

Anyway, so back to it. I will have to check but I think I am very, very close to being only one hundred days away from the toughest ride I have yet to undertake.

the great indoors

Rode a departure from my usual long-slow-distance rides. Short and hard today. It was short due to my lack of fitness. I have laid down my long endurance foundation. Now comes the power and the sprints, speed work, climbs and studies in pain.

I kept that cadence between 80-100. I spun 100 for over half of the workout. My heart rate tapped on a 183 beats per minute ceiling a couple of times. Good start. Good workout.

More to come. Much more to come.

DEPOSITION: For years I have made grand attempts to graph and scale every quantitative detail of my training and rides. I feel that I have spent a lot of time shuffling numbers unnecessarily. This is time that I could have been on the bike or in the gym.

This year the only numbers I will be tracking is the mileage. I have set a personal goal to log 10,000 miles before my fortieth birthday. I have 7,958 miles remaining.

sunday drive: touring the Queen

It didn't take long to start hitting the hills that I will encounter while riding stage 4 of the Tour of Utah. Roughly 5 miles out of Park City, the road begins an incline alongside the Jordanelle. This climb should prove a good warm up for the road ahead, a place to unfold the lungs and allow the consciousness to compress into a tight intent.

The road that descends sharply out of Francis will be a white knuckle affair as the peleton should still be large and intact. There is a lot of rustic beauty on both sides of this road. I doubt you could find a racer at the end of the day that will have noticed any of it.

The climbs around Deer Creek should thin the herd. The descent toward Midway will give the legs a deserved respite.

The Alpine loop, the first polka dot top, is an absolutely brutal climb. The road is narrow with a lot of trees. With a little luck, a rider should be able to suffer, die and ressurrect in a little bit of shade.

I only had enough time to recon the first half of this route, but it has provided me with a couple very valuable thoughts: train, train, train. rinse and repeat as necessary.