november 22, 2007

went out solo this morning. there was a chance mike would ride along and even that a century rider would join in too. but neither happened. didnt end up making a difference and even may have been better for me. went at it hard this morning doing a good effort for most of the ride. even felt as if i was in a time trial state of mind at times. havent kept my legs churning at that hard an effort in a long time. for the last 2/3 of the ride i was in a very high gear and slow cadence. just like when time trialling. being that my effort was far above what i expected out of myself it made me think of what made the difference in my ride today than other days. for starters it was warmer out today. riding on the trainer yesterday was a good tune up for today. and recently been doing a couple gym visits but havent gotten into a rhythm yet. could it be that cytomax makes a difference!? most of my rides lately my bottles have been filled with plain water. this time i chose to do 1 water, 1 cytomax. all those things added to a difference. but the psychological difference in drinking cytomax may help me in the future. especially during the long winter.

now to reverse my effort by gorging on a thanksgiving meal! ride;

d-26.6

november 20, 2007

did a nice hour on the trainer. some good intervals. and some good climbing simulations. i hate the trainer though. hopefully i get out tomorrow.

november 17, 2007

did a nice ride today that mike came along for. had about an hours worth of riding before mike joined me. by that time my legs were warmed up and i had done a few sprints. but the cold can suck the energy out you. a half hour into riding with mike my toes were coooooold!! this is something that need to be taken care of. either purchasing better booties or possibly getting hand warmers to put on my feet is going to need to be done. this will ensure my riding comfortably through the winter. ride;

d-51.6

november 14, 2007

got out today despite the nasty weather. wasnt raining but there was a mist in the air and the temps were in the high 40s. stayed off the bike the past few days so to not burn myself out. went hiking on monday and ended up seeing a bear! after that my nerves wound up getting me lost. so im in the woods about 2 to 3 miles into the trail and there is a bear walking around the area! pretty scary stuff. had to call the local police for some help which wound up being the best idea. they located me via gps. after a few attempts to sound a siren from a squad car in the parking lot they told me to head towards the trucks i could hear from the 3M plant. headed that way and found the trail in a couple minutes. after that i headed out of there fast that bear had me spooked.

so, i think straying away from the bike wasnt a good idea! todays ride was a reminder of that. did a nice ride up zion and around neshanic station. did a good effort and wound up riding for a little more than an hour. felt good to get out. the past couple days have been long. getting cold in the house and am not really up to much. cycling is going to be the answer. ride;

d-18.8

november 11, 2007

short hard effort today. did a small loop right before sundown. wanted to ride today but am still with my laziness battles. going out to play a round of disc golf got me inspired and i shot out right after getting home. ended up having a nice ride and tried out the leg warmers as well. id say they would be good down to 45ish before having to switch to the amfibs. but overall today was a good ride. not as long as i hoped but still nice. ride;

d-8.7

november 10, 2007

took a nice long ride today. went out solo but it took some effort to get out the door. was going to wear the new leg warmers but after thinking twice i chose my amfibs. it ended up being the right choice with temps in the low 40s. not sure how much ive lost since gaining weight and not riding but overall i felt pretty good. headed down 601 towards 518. this was a nice stretch. had a subtly tail wind which made warming up much easier. after getting on 518 headed towards canal rd. saw another rider who ignored me after making an attempt at saying hi. this bugs me. part of me wants to just give up saying hi but i know its not the right thing to do. another thing, no helmet! why do people take this risk! oh well.

did the climb up 518 then got on canal rd. found the formula for figuring out the grade of hills.

grade = feet climbed/feet ridden. then move the decimal point two places to the right. so this climb is a 3.5% grade! woo! headed down canal rd and did two decent pace intervals. then back down 514 and home. great ride even though it was chilly it felt good to get out. ride;

d-30.2

november 9, 2007

havent ridden at all. been to the gym twice today being the most productive trip. picked up leg warmers and a new pair of bottle cages for the scott. that should motivate me to get out and ride. if the rain holds off tomorrow i plan on going for a short nice ride.

october 31, 2007

went out with mike today on the last of the month. we did a nice loop around the area. pretty windy out but it was great weather and the temps were high for this time of year. thats been the theme of the fall so far, warm. anyway, despite not riding and gaining weight and also eating like shit i felt pretty good! which is a good sign. just need to be better focused. and the focus seems to be lacking.

the ride was really nice though. rolled around a few areas where i had no idea where we were. did a sprint or two and did a nice intensity interval. was happy with this ride. although this month my miles have gone down id say the quality of my rides have been great. looking forward to november! ride;

d-25.6


monthly mile mark - 2730.44