Training Wheels

First, for my dedicated readers (both of you) I changed the template to make the blog easier to read. The chunky type on reverse was too much eye strain for my aging optics.

Friday was a yard/birthday night. Nifi had a nice birthday -- lots of things to exchange or return. I knew if she was not thrilled with her birthday, Mother's day was going to suck for her -- started to develop plan B. Nice dinner, great wine and time with the girls for a late night stroll.

Saturday was up and at-em for Spin class. It was tough. The teacher was in a bad mood, I think, and took it out on us. People were bitching about the reconfigured space and little AC but it was fine for me, I consume tons of fluid so I never felt too depleted. I was ready to do some weights but felt it was not in my best interest since I was planning 50 for Sunday. Plus I had to enact Plan B. Ran errands all over town and got home to finish up the yard. Worked on the 6000 -- cool Ergon grips, thanks to some advice from Alvelo, they fit perfectly. Hanging Saturday night.

Sunday it was up, fuel, prep and head out for the 50 mile ride. I was not feeling it for a long while. I was into the wind, climbing the causeway was more difficult -- burning lungs, slow cadence and speed. My legs felt like two sausage casings filled with lead. I was trudging into the wind (hopeful that I would have some tailwind home) at a slower than normal average speed and high heart rate. I wanted to bag it. I was at the "why am I doing this?" point of training. I knew if I could push past that I would be okay. I made the half way destination, re-fueled, re-focused and headed back glad to have some tailwind this time.

By the time I hit the causeway back I sprinted over it 6+ MPH faster than on the original climb. It felt wonderful, plus I looked down and I was in a higher gear than I had planned -- bonus points! I ended up hitting the 40 mile mark just 17 seconds off two weeks ago surprisingly. The last 10 miles was a circuit around the neighborhood, with and without wind. I finished the 50 in 3:19. Guess that was okay based on how I started.

My body was showing signs of over-training during the night, restlessness, discomfort but today is a rest day.

I think a new saddle is in order. I am not digging the Bontrager and it distracts from my focus -- when you're focusing on your own a**. I'll take suggestions from the gallery on good saddles, please.

Spin On