Paris-Nice

Just a reminder that Paris-Nice, a week-long stage race kicks off this weekend and you can watch coverage on the Versus channel. Coverage starts at 3:00 our time Sunday. Set your recording devices.

And remember that Team Radio Shack's Matthew Busche of Tosa has been selected to the team for this spring classic. He'll be riding in support of Levi it would seem.


As for me, I was a lazy slouch this past week. The weather had me down and twice I passed on getting on the trainer inside.


I think once the sun comes out a little more and the temps finally get up to at least the low 40's with cleaner roads I'll be more inspired to start riding outside.


It's just a little too early yet to be out there, and I'm so burned out on doing "Carmichael's" that I am sort of in a funk when it comes to cycling right now.


Looking forward to Paris-Nice though. The coverage starts at 3:00 p.m. all week long on Versus.

Ill wind blows

As Sinatra sings, 'Ill wind blow. You're blowin' me no good." And it was no good out there today.

Still, a 39-degree day with sunshine and roads that are 75% clear in March means that if I can squeeze in a ride I'll do it.

I got 12 miles in this afternoon, although I had to detour off my usual Elm Grove route because one of the roads was blocked by ice.

The wind was kicking up 12-20 and it really made things feel cold. I never got into any rhythm but just gutted out a dozen knowing that tomorrow the high temp is only supposed to be 28.

Season Miles: 73

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.