blue

blue water two days in a row, like the first few hours on a new set of tires. very nice. rolling along the paths good music just for me. sun warming not much of a worry, taking in the late winter sun and fading snow. the lake is still frozen.

moving up

Longer ride yesterday, for me at least. 80k with a good chunk of climbing, the ride up to Montezuma was great, quiet pace up the hill without any red zone. getting up there it reminded me of the town from Northern Exposure weird kitschy but very grounded...on the surface. They even have a radio station now, the purple house that Joey K used to live in with the sign on the window reading KMZM 96.5 I wonder what music they play. Jalapeno's for dinner last night, dirty bird burrito for me, super tasty! I was a lot warmer today on the trip in, being more rugged up helped. Bearclaw from Daylight, to fill my belly as if the burrito last night wasn't enough to recover from the ride. A former world champ once said "a donut every now and then when you're training isn't a bad thing!" I guess my twice a month treat won't make me slower, I hope.

Better

I love how after some good training I can see the improvements in form. Yesterday the legs were there, good tempo around the lake and up to Keystone before climbing Swan. I like waiting a bit longer to put in the time. I never realize until it's too late that I can't hope to keep up with the Front Range racers. Every year I bang my head against the wall, two years ago I did it before B came along but now I'd rather be home with he and shaubie. That spring was great, I did the time and had form through early summer. I'd rather be on the cross program, ride for fun, race without pressure then do the work late summer for the big season! I just enjoy riding so much right now. Elefant and Filter in my ears yesterday, motivated me enough to climb just below the rivet. Life is good. Three great days with B, pool on Monday for almost two hours, rolling through the grocery afterward we both almost fell asleep! Tuesday we had a more mellow day with a lot of work on my glacier in the driveway. He's a slave driver, we could have chipped at it for hours. His words are getting so clear, I can get most of them on the first try. He's so cool!!!

Sunday

The storm that was supposed to dump a few feet up here never really came, six inches max. Just a spring dusting. I love weather forecasters. I keep seeing things out of the corner of my eye that aren't there, my peripheral vision is playing tricks on my brain. Weird. Does that mean anything? Or just crazy? Roubaix was today, no big surprise in the winner. Good show by the Disco team, maybe next year, Georgie only has a few left. He won't win it though, too much work going into Tour prep to help out the leaders.

capricious

Four good days of training and now we get the storm of the century or something like that. Calling for a foot plus tonight and then more tomorrow. They cancelled Sunday's race on Friday. I love the Rockies, no telling what the weather will bring. I'm doing the time, two hours a day, sometimes more. I feel good, a sign that I'm not just pedaling, the work is getting done and I'm feeling the effects of it. Lots of dirt road stuff right now to avoid the sleepy late winter drivers not looking for cyclists. Maybe in a week the paths will be clear enough to ride without getting off or straightlining it through the snow banks.

getting there

Sometimes I wish I didn't enjoy the road stuff as much as I do. It would be so much easier to ride without purpose until late July and then start it up through late summer for cross. The reality is I do enjoy it and want to go well. The last two days have been really good, Wednesday was a good hard day, Thursday a better long day with the boys. I guess the cars are being nice right now because there is less traffic overall in the county. Less volume and more room for people on bikes.

icy

road bikes and icy roads can get along. the 8 inches of snow yesterday then a sunny afternoon cleared and warmed the tarmac enough that today it was select patches of ice instead of a sheet of it. new stuff on the pod and a little extra time gave me a chance to ride a bit to enjoy the chilly morning. good to be out on the bike feeling like a cyclist again.

improve yourself

i feel the drive now. for a few weeks i was lacking motivation, sunday cured that almost 100%. i still feel like i'm lacking power and i think it's called fitness, yeah, i'm lacking that too. the efforts need to come thick and fast and the fitness will follow. i hope.

koppenburg

yesterday was my first road race and the only road race in colorado until late spring. weird how a state with such a history of road racing doesn't have any at all. it was kind of hard, about a 10k lap with a 20% grade short climb on it, nine times up the hill and carnage all over the first few laps as guys fought for position on the course. half dirt with potholes big enough to swallow a wheel. friends and former teammates were pretty bloodied early on, i guess staying upright didn't make me faster. i didn't get lapped and i rode pretty well, though slow.

rolling

single cross was good yesterday but the roads were too icy to really ride, wednesday was better, just snow. i didn't get hit which was a surprise to me. good workout on the rollers last night as the snow restarted. i watched liege-bastogne-liege from 2001, won by the now retired doper oscar camenzind. cruel tricks for april fool's day. 0 degrees and sheets of ice. something about an egg sandwich and a good oj for breakfast. the food made the commute a little easier, warming me from the inside out after getting to work. i'm getting ready for a few warm days and some time outside without all of the layers. today i needed the good jacket, it was too damp and cold for a little shell and wool cycling jacket.