Substitute

With the Koppenberg race canceled before I even left home I got lucky to still put in some time on the roads around town. Nothing to really mimic a race effort. Seth did that. I just rode a mtb on roads that I could/should have ridden on a road bike. Work done.

Tempo

With races coming up and volume following every hour on the bike counts. Fruita is close.

Easy

Work as it comes closer to the first test. Mmmmmm good stuff on the way.

8

It was 8 when I started, that was going downhill for a while towards the low point where I cross the river. It was colder there. Feeling better about it all is important for the head. The legs are fine, they always seem to come around. I didn't have to get off the bike and run to thaw toes, that was nice. Even the school buses didn't buzz me today. Little victories.

Wednesday

Not all of them can be three hours, it would be nice this time of year to have that but it doesn't happen like that. Fenders and rollers solve the puzzle. Always wanting more, putting together the foundation to not be so slow and getting the picture in focus.

Utility

I have no real skills, I say this a lot, the kid on the fixy held that track stand for a full two minute red light stop, impressive. I rode well but that didn't really take skill, I just wasn't that tired, that's not a skill. After 25 almost 30 years of riding bikes my skills have remained non-existent. I can ride from here to there. Not much else. That's free-ing sort of. I only need to practice riding, bike practice is a constant, anytime I can get it done, I do. So enjoyable to go out and set the throttle at one spot and leave it there, no need to kill yourself just get the work done and enjoy the little burn in the legs. Smile, you're riding a bike. I think it was either Tony Hawk or Andy Macdonald who once said about skateboarding "we are riding around on toys" bikes aren't much different, just a bit more utilitarian.

equations

Shooting pictures as the work piles up, no secrets, just work still to be done. I feel better and better, the old system puts a smile on my face, get it done and the rewards sort of fall into your lap. No shortcuts, time=speed, it's simple.

Wind or Cold

Pick one, I'll take them both, struggling to get the right amount of time on the wheels and the right amount to not regress. Falling together almost perfect. Sometimes it works out and full benefit comes from less than I thought. Putting down the bricks to build a foundation through mid December takes more than two months, this is the third of it. Sunday is number one, all kinds after that, thick and fast. Sometimes all of it; wind, cold, dirt, pavement. Ready?

Brick

More time than I think, less gaps than I think. Putting together a winter is different every time. A few bricks and the house is ready for the first floor, a few bricks add up after all the k already in the legs. Listen to the aches, the body needs less than you think.  

Friday