Greshkov>Wind

I found out something interesting about the wind today. At 32mph it will pick up road debris and pelt you with it so hard that you actually bleed.

62* and windy was the forecast, so of course I was going to ride outside today. I did the Audubon loop the easy way (20m round trip) because I didn't feel like tackling the hill yet. The entire way up was into the wind so I found a nice cadence and just put my head down. Around Betzwood I ran into Kevin and chatted with him for a moment. Once I got around Pawlings the wind was at my back until I turned up to go towards Audubon. From then on, the wind was just pummeling me. When I got to Norristown, the wind took off its gloves. At one point, while crossing the bridge into Bridgeport, I was doing 1mph and could barely turn the pedals. Felt like much more than 32mph in my face. As if the ride up into Bridgeport isn't bad enough when you're tired on a normal day, the wind just kept trying to stop me. Better luck next time punk.

Training Log

Today I did the CTS Climbing DVD workout again. It consists of a 5min warm up with 2 x 30sec sprints thrown in. Then you go for 5min in a hard gear at about 65rpm, followed by 5min in a really easy gear at about 90rpm. Rinse, wash, repeat a few times and then there's 10min of hard effort, 65rpm fun. After another 5min block of easy 90rpm spinning there's a 10min block where every minute I alternate from a hard 85rpm effort to a hard 65rpm effort. Then a cool down period and I stretch. There's a bunch of heart-rate nonsense in there that I can't really keep track of at the moment because Jen doesn't know where her heart-rate monitor is. If I believe all the rumors floating around my job, this Wednesday is the day they're shit-canning people, so I should know soon if I have a job or not. If I have a job come Thursday (assuming the lay-offs happen Wednesday) I will start looking for the Garmin computer so I can "Train Right!" as opposed to approximately training.

OMG! An update!

Months ago, when I last bothered to write something, I was starting to go through bike withdraw. Now, it's actually affecting my sleep. I just lay there at night, thinking about riding my bike. It's agony. But it has given me time to think and figure out what I want to do once I can ride the damn thing again. Before I get to all of that, I'll fill you in one what I've been doing in the meantime...

Nothing.

...And that about brings you up to speed.

Okay, "nothing" isn't entirely true. My back has become a complete asshole. It has gotten to the point that it seizes up once a month now. I've spent the last two to three months trying to figure out how to stop it from locking up. I just finished a month a physical therapy and I've been continuing to build on that. I have a whole routine of stretches/exercises that I do once every three days. The stretching portion I do every day.

I still see the chiropractor once a month. I've found that by the third week my neck starts to feel like it's ripping itself apart and struggling to hold itself together and halfway through the third week it seizes. I immediately take a Flex (muscle relaxer) and that keeps me from being bed ridden for three days. Then my chiropractor cracks my bones and I feel great for three more weeks.

What I started this month was adding massage therapy to the mix. I'm going to see Jen's (and my) friend Amy once a month as well, but I'm offsetting the appointments by two weeks. This way, hopefully, my muscles will relax enough to not lock up. If it works (this is the first month I've done both) I will continue to see both of them for a few months before phasing out the chiropractic part. I'll keep you updated.

As for actual on the bike training, up until two weeks ago there wasn't much. I had been on the trainer a few times but I would much rather bang my head against something hard for a while seeing as how that might actually be more entertaining. Two weeks ago we did get really nice weather from Sunday to Wednesday and I took full advantage. I went out with Niko on Sunday, and we almost ate shit like four times because the path was such an icy/watery/muddy mess. Monday I road fixies for a little with my friend Evan. Tuesday I went for a much saner, leisurely ride with my dad on the path, and Wednesday I went out with Eric and a few people he rides with and the beat me up for twenty miles. It was good riding and helped a little by taking the edge off, but now I'm missing sleep again.

I ordered a new Carmichael Training Systems(CTS) DVD for climbing to go along with the Time Trial one I have and have decided that as much as I hate it, I'm going to have to ride the trainer. It's thirty degrees out and I don't even have gloves, so outside is out of the question, but I need to do something. Two days a week I'm going to do an hour on the trainer, and if it's warm enough I will go out and put in some big (for me) miles in outside on the weekend. If it's not warm enough, I may just pop in a movie and sit on the trainer for two hours. I'm not sure if my mind can take that.

To take full advantage of making the effort to train, I need things like a heart rate monitor, a computer that displays my cadence, possibly a power meter and a training log. For the training log, I've decided to just use this blog. If anyone still reads this, you'll be able to follow my progress, and once I get back out on the bike, you'll get to hear about my rides on a regular basis. Expect stories of me bonking, giving up on hills before I reach the top, crying like a little girl and complaining about what complete D-bags other cyclists are. It should be fun.

The heart-rate meter is an easy solution. Jen already has one she doesn't use. While it might not be the manliest colour, it will get the job done.

Cadence I'm up in the air about. Part of me wonders if I really need to keep note of it. I'm not a fan of wires running all over my bike either, partly for aesthetics, but mostly because it's a bitch when I clean my bike. Yes, I realize those are terrible reasons, but I stand by them. My bike, my stupid hang ups, what I say goes. That leaves wireless computers that keep track of cadence. Coincidently, that would leave me with a lot less money.

One option for all of my "needs" is a Power Tap. It's a power meter that can tell me my cadence and my heart rate. It can even keep track of past workouts so it practically does the training log portion of it as well. It's twelve hundred dollars not including the price of replacing the hub on my old wheels with it.

Another option is Garmin's 705. For half the price of a Power tap, it does everything the PT does except measure power. Since I'm pathetically weak anyway, I don't care about how many watts I make. I just want to be able to keep myself out of the redline while making myself stronger so I can ride longer, more varied routes. The 705 also has GPS so I can store rides I have done and pull them up if I want to do them again. It's even compatible with the PT if I ever decide I want to start training that way. I think I just made up my mind for this years big purchase.

So there we have it. I'll actually be training this year, more stupid blog updates, fixing my back, but most importantly, more riding this year. Wish me luck.