it is tuesday, 27 december, about 1514 hours pm in the afternoon, i just got home from a ride.
today i rode 48 km, it was a good ride, it was about 35 degrees out, my feet and ears are a bit chilly despite being covered in what i thought was adequate protection.
today's ride all started yesterday on facebook. i had posted the status update "i have lost my will to suffer." a friend, joe, said i should go for a ride with him, no suffering, so i agreed.
joe is a badass. he has type 1 diabetes, and last year was going to do a century a month for ten months. He did eight centuries. the guy is strong, and pretty damn cool. i was intimidated, but i knew i should ride with him. first off, when i ride alone, it's just too damn easy to cut my ride short, turn around, and go back to riding a couch. second, i knew if i rode with him, we would be talking and i could ride a bit faster than i normally would have, and finally, if i committed to riding with someone, i knew i wouldn't blow off my ride.
so today at 1:00 in the afternoon, we met outside his house and took off. we rode at a good pace, talked, the weather wasn't too bad, a bit chilly, but thankfully no wind. 30 miles later, i am home. and i felt great during the whole ride. who knows, perhaps i am getting stronger? we took it easy, about 15mph the whole way, and it was pretty flat.
either way, i had a great ride, and i feel pretty damn good. i look forward to my next ride with joe.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
christmas 2011
it is 4 pm on the dot, sunday, christmas 2011, i just returned from a ride.
woke up this morning at about 5:26 am, back to sleep by 6 or so, up again at 8:30, groggy, tired, legs sore, for no real reason. i think my body is fighting something, at least i'm not full blown sick. went down to the coffee shop and had a bagle and cream cheese and a coffee, talked with friends for a few hours, then came back home.
i wanted to ride my bike, planned on it, but i didn't want to. yesterday i was going to ride and i just slept all goddamn day, again, i think my body is fighting something. so, yesterday i didn't ride as planned, and i'm sort of glad, it was a high of about 27 fucking degrees out yesterday. at least today it reached a balmy 34 degrees, with a slight wind.
so i didn't want to ride today, but fuck that, i need to ride, i want to ride, and i claim to be a cyclist, so i put on my ibex knickers, my leg warmers, my jacket and gloves and cap, and i got on the bike and i rode. i was tired, i was going to cut it short, but at about mile 9, when i was heading back home, the tailwind gave me a false sense of strength, and instead of turning left to head home, i turned right and kept on riding. i got to a point where i am quite familiar with, i knew i could just tag on some extra and it not be too big a deal, and so i kept on pedaling, along the roads i'm familiar with, yelling out greetings to the cows and horses and sheep and little jackass dogs who bark at me, as i always do, and it was good. my legs were tired, but somehow, they wanted more, and i liked that, so i gave them more. i did the occasional sprint, i pushed it hard up the little hills, i enjoyed the bike gliding over the road. of course, heading back was against the wind, but that was ok with me, i am learning to accept the wind, and almost tolerate it.
i managed to tack on an extra 10 km or so, and when i got home, yeah, i felt like i could have gone farther, but i was happy with today's ride. i only rode a mere 40 km, and it took me an hour and forty one fucking minutes to do it, which is sort of pathetic, but there it is. that is where i'm at.
i hope i can get stronger, i don't seem to be able to, and i always seem to be tired. whatever, i will keep at it and hope i see some form of progress.
even if i don't, at least i am out on my bike, and that feels good. i look forward to my next ride.
woke up this morning at about 5:26 am, back to sleep by 6 or so, up again at 8:30, groggy, tired, legs sore, for no real reason. i think my body is fighting something, at least i'm not full blown sick. went down to the coffee shop and had a bagle and cream cheese and a coffee, talked with friends for a few hours, then came back home.
i wanted to ride my bike, planned on it, but i didn't want to. yesterday i was going to ride and i just slept all goddamn day, again, i think my body is fighting something. so, yesterday i didn't ride as planned, and i'm sort of glad, it was a high of about 27 fucking degrees out yesterday. at least today it reached a balmy 34 degrees, with a slight wind.
so i didn't want to ride today, but fuck that, i need to ride, i want to ride, and i claim to be a cyclist, so i put on my ibex knickers, my leg warmers, my jacket and gloves and cap, and i got on the bike and i rode. i was tired, i was going to cut it short, but at about mile 9, when i was heading back home, the tailwind gave me a false sense of strength, and instead of turning left to head home, i turned right and kept on riding. i got to a point where i am quite familiar with, i knew i could just tag on some extra and it not be too big a deal, and so i kept on pedaling, along the roads i'm familiar with, yelling out greetings to the cows and horses and sheep and little jackass dogs who bark at me, as i always do, and it was good. my legs were tired, but somehow, they wanted more, and i liked that, so i gave them more. i did the occasional sprint, i pushed it hard up the little hills, i enjoyed the bike gliding over the road. of course, heading back was against the wind, but that was ok with me, i am learning to accept the wind, and almost tolerate it.
i managed to tack on an extra 10 km or so, and when i got home, yeah, i felt like i could have gone farther, but i was happy with today's ride. i only rode a mere 40 km, and it took me an hour and forty one fucking minutes to do it, which is sort of pathetic, but there it is. that is where i'm at.
i hope i can get stronger, i don't seem to be able to, and i always seem to be tired. whatever, i will keep at it and hope i see some form of progress.
even if i don't, at least i am out on my bike, and that feels good. i look forward to my next ride.
Friday, December 23, 2011
wiping off the cobwebs
so....
haven't written here in a few years, frankly never expected to come back here...much has changed.....i think i want to change the focus of this here blog....
this used to be a random, whatever was in my head, hodgepodge of fiction, dumb ass ideas, book reviews, and talking about cycling. i will probably keep the book reviews, maybe write some random stuff, not much, and write primarily about cycling. i will save the fiction and other ramblings for elsewhere. for now.
been riding a lot, i want to ride more, i want to ride a bike all the damn time, the name of the blog *is* saddlesore review, and so i want this to be a no shit bike blog...
probably won't happen, but for now, for just this night, i will act like it will....
tomorrow i ride, hopefully tomorrow i will come back and write about it....
now i sleep.
haven't written here in a few years, frankly never expected to come back here...much has changed.....i think i want to change the focus of this here blog....
this used to be a random, whatever was in my head, hodgepodge of fiction, dumb ass ideas, book reviews, and talking about cycling. i will probably keep the book reviews, maybe write some random stuff, not much, and write primarily about cycling. i will save the fiction and other ramblings for elsewhere. for now.
been riding a lot, i want to ride more, i want to ride a bike all the damn time, the name of the blog *is* saddlesore review, and so i want this to be a no shit bike blog...
probably won't happen, but for now, for just this night, i will act like it will....
tomorrow i ride, hopefully tomorrow i will come back and write about it....
now i sleep.
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