So long February

So long February. I said goodbye with a Carmichael :45 workout today. The last five minutes seemed to take forever...not really into it today.

1:00

Well I wanted to do something a little different today so rather than another Carmichael workout I went with what would be the trainer version of an LSD ride.

Now some people call this a Long, Slow, Distance ride. Others call an LSD ride a Long, Steady, Ride. I think the second title sounds better.

In either case, the point is that you are in the saddle longer than you are used to, not going for any sort of rpm, speed or more-difficult gearing. Rather, this is about pushing yourself to stay on board for longer than you are used to.

This was the first time this indoor season that I have hit an hour. And you can tell. My body is used to quitting at :45 so the final 15 minutes today were tough to get in. But I did it.

What a difference a week makes

One week ago today I did a 36-mile ride outside on a wonderful 50-degree, dry day in February. No such luck today, with snow and ice everywhere.

I did a Carmichael today, the second day in a row doing this :45 workout.

Things felt OK.

I plan to try something just a little different on Thursday.

Back inside

The nice weather and three outdoor rides of last week are but a fond memory. Now, as the snow piles up again outside my door, I am back on the trainer in my basement doing a :45-min Carmichael today.


Blah.

But it WAS a good sweat.
More of this to come for the rest of the week. 

Tempting...

As I type this entry there is a snowstorm underway outside my window, packing threats of rain, sleet and ice to go along with 5-9 inches of the white death. Crap.

Coming off a week of being able to get three rides in OUTSIDE on dry roads in February, this latest covering from Old Man Winter is an unwanted gift that I wish he would stop giving.

I was tempted to ride with my one of my riding buds and blog reader "Der Jan" on Saturday. It was cold, but the sun was out and there was no wind. He told me he was just finishing up with work and wondered if I was interested in getting a few miles in with him.

Of course I was, but my time was tight. I could have squeezed a ride in, but I played it safe knowing that in a few hours I was needed as the emcee of a big charity banquet downtown. I didn't want to take a chance. I could just see me getting flat 30 miles out delaying us, or worse yet, me crashing. That would be something...I walk up to the stage as the host of this fancy dinner program at the Pfister with road rash on my face!

So as tempting as it sounded, I passed on the ride. I hope he went because it may be the last chance to ride outside again for a while thanks to the snow that is now falling more heavily than when I started writing this post. Looks like it will be back to the basement trainer for me this week.

Just Like Belgium

I have to believe that today's ride would be just what it would feel like if I were a pro riding in Belgium in early spring. The weather was perfect for that setting:

--47 degrees

--Dark, dank sky

--Snow on the ground all around

--Fog

--Blowing drizzle

There was nothing good about this weather, except for the fact that it came on February 17th in Milwaukee. Roads clear of snow and ice? Temperatures above freezing? Bah, what's a little rain...what's a few giant snow-melt puddles...what's a little cold wind in the face? Piece of cake in February. As ugly as this day looked outside it was still better than 45 minutes on the trainer in my basement.

Three days. Three rides. Three different bikes too. Today I took out my second-stringer, the Klein. Man, each move up my bike food chain sure is a nice change for the better then it comes to feel and performance.

From the Navigator 400 to the Trek 7500 FX to this Klein and each time the ride got better.

Today I stayed close to home because the rear tire on this bike has been on the trainer. It looks like it has worn pretty much and I didn't feel like struggling with a rear tire change in this weather.

I did three laps on my Elm Grove crit course. Coming back on the second half of each lap the wind was blowing the drizzle such that it sounded like freezing rain hitting the wind jacket I had on.

None of that mattered though. I was not going long today, just blowing out the cobwebs from my legs after yesterday's big 36-mile adventure out of nowhere. Just a dozen miles today. Sloppy yes, but outside.

You'll have to excuse me now. I have three bikes to go clean up.

 Season Miles= 61

Perfect February weather for a ride

Wow.
That's all I can say.
Wow.
It does not get much better than sunshine, 50 and no wind smack-dab in the middle of February.

I hurried with the PhilCast show and the chores of the day to try to get out before lunch. I was so looking forward to a winter riding adventure today, and that is what I got.

Two minutes in I had to wait forever for the train from hell. I rode the third-string bike today, the Trek 7500FX this time, and boy was it (and I) a mess at the end of this 2:44, 36-mile ride down into Franklin and back.

I chose this bike rather than the 4th stringer because I knew I wanted to explore my old Three Bridges route today and would want to feel 'more normal' riding this bike as opposed to the old Navigator 400 I rode outside earlier in the week.

I took the early detour on my route because the path off Bluemound is still jammed with snow. I would find out however, that most all the other path areas on my route were indeed clear enough to ride...most.

The detour, once a road marked by potholes as big as Glenn Beck's ego and as frequent as hookers at Charlie Sheen's doorstep, is now in fact paved and boasts a bike lane. No problem riding this now.

I wanted to test areas that had been closed down last fall. The big one was Root River Parkway, which is now coated with a fantastic layer of smooth blacktop.

And the greatest surprise of all was the fact that the bridge just before Loomis, closed for half a year or more, is finally complete!

Take a look at the bridge with this short video I took.

Coming up on a bridge overpass on the path it was tough to see due to all the wet and glare. I had some doubts about the path ahead and hit the brakes which SCREAMED and scared me a bit because they were all wet and gunked up. At the same time I hit a patch of slushy ice and the bike jumped out on me. I corrected and kept going, but that sure did get my heart rate up there in a hurry.

I took the hilly route back, making a complete loop rather than take the path back. Yes, I sang "I'm Free" by The Who as I went past the prison, my SOP there.

On the way in I thought I would try the Greenfield Park area rather than the detour, just to check it out. The path is now clear enough to ride at the golf course, but the gate at Greenfield Ave. is still locked shut. This was one of only two places on the entire ride that I had to do a little cyclocross, carrying my bike over the slippery stuff.

In the end I had to backtrack a bit due to that early patch of bad stuff approaching Bluemound. But all in all things are open already. Messy as hell, yes, but open.

Yuk... like I said...what a mess! But it was worth every bit of grit and grime to be back out on the road.

As much as I stay connected to the world each and every day via the internet, there is something to be said for unplugging and just being out on the road.

No emails. No texting. No phone. No Twitter. No Facebook. No PhilCast. No internet.

Just a bike and a road and a nice February day. It doesn't really feel like spring yet out there...too much snow all around yet. And I know this is just a tease. But I'll take it. Boy will I take it.

2011 Miles: 49

2011 outdoor underway!

The 2011 cycling season, my eleventh year on a bike, kicked off today, Valentine's Day. That's four days earlier than my first outdoor ride of last season.

Today, with a cold wind, sunshine and about 40 degrees I climbed on a bit of history to mark the occasion. You see Sunday I managed to struggle through the snow to my shed out at the lake house, where I pulled out my original bike to bring home. I had not taken it home from the lake house in a couple of years.

So I brought the old Trek Navigator home for some much-needed cleaning and then I took it out for a brief ride today. This is a bike that is perfect for these conditions; wet, sloppy, salty roads covered in sand and grit. Why not put the old girl to use I figured?

 There she is. I remember that I could hardly swing my leg over the top tube when I bought this bike at Rainbow Jersey, just three months after my total hip replacement surgery in November of 2000. This is the bike that  I had my "big crash" on in 2002, breaking my wrist and knocking out a front tooth.

Riding her today felt very odd. Everything is so upright on the bike compared to what I am used to riding. But she sure is comfy with all those shocks! I guess this is as close to mountain biking as I will ever come. But when conditions are sloppy and you just feel like bundling up and heading out, what better machine to use really?

I suppose I should look into getting at least a rear fender. By the time I was done with three laps of the Elm Grove Crit course I sure was a mess. Didn't matter to me though. I made it outside today. Even the walking path around the pond in Elm Grove was clear of snow and ice so I took that as a way to turn around starting on lap number two.

I wanted to log what I was doing 10 years ago this season too, but would you believe I have every year's cycling logs EXCEPT 2001, my very first season coming off the surgery that turned me on to cycling to begin with? Perhaps I didn't keep a paper log, but that doesn't sound like me. It must be lost somewhere.

So perhaps I'll throw back from time to time what I was doing on any given ride dating back to 2002, the oldest log I still have. Turns out that on Feb. 14th 2002 the log book is empty. I'll keep it open and keep checking whenever I ride this season and write about it here.

So the new season is underway with a simple short 13 miles on the bike that started it all in the spring of 2001.

2011 Miles: 13

Back to back

Second day in a row doing the :45 Carmichael. It felt good. Just saddle time now and try to stay on target and not get lazy here in Feb.

Solid Carmichael

Finally, a nice hard workout today. I blew it off Wednesday because by the middle of the afternoon I was freezing and all I wanted to do was crawl under a comforter and take a nap.

Today I put in a strong Carmichael, the second of the week, even throwing in a couple of harder gears than it called for.

Good session. One more Carmichael to go this week....two more rides.

Time to get serious

Now that the Packers have won the Super Bowl and the NFL season has been put to rest, it is time to get serious about dropping some weight and starting to get my legs into shape.

Up until now I have been going through the motions, just on the trainer for a little too little and eating a lot too much. This is all because of the Packers' success in the playoffs of course.

Now we enter the darkest time of the year for me, that time between the end of the football season and the start of the outdoor riding season around Easter.

The goal here is to drop 10 pounds and crank out workouts on the bike at least four times a week, with, for now, at least two of those days being Carmichael workouts.

Today's Carmichael was a good sweat. A start to the week...a week with no more football. But hey, the spring classics are just around the corner in Europe!

Tracking this week...

So far I am on target for the new amped-up week...

Monday I did a Carmichael (:45-min. structured)
Tuesday I did :30 spin
Wednesday I did snow blowing and shoveling from a blizzard
Thursday I did Carmichael #2 of the week.

I have one more workout to go to make my goal this week.

I have been distracted by the fact that the Packers are in Super Bowl for sure, and that has led to more eating than I should be doing on game days as well.

But the game is this Sunday, and then next week it is time to check into the Hotel Sufferfest. 
(at least for me)

Stay tuned...