Good Week

I had a good week of riding. Tuesdays ride went very well. We really pushed and got a great workout. Thursday morning I did a nice 30 mile road ride. And Saturday's morning ride again showed me that time on the bike is paying off. I put in 73 miles and rode in a few breakaway groups. I also chased down other breakaways for the team. I felt strong all day and although I was tired, I wasn't so spent that had to come home and sleep. 

Today we go to the water park. The boys are looking forward to it and hopefully they will be tall enough to ride some of the bigger slides. 

Tuesday ride

Last night's off-road ride was great. I feel that my technical skills have improved immensely. We also rode at what was probably close to my maximum effort for several long stretches. Last night I was totally spent after the ride. I did have one wipe out though, and I'm a little sore this morning. I have tomorrow off so I plan on doing a ride in the morning. I'm not sure if it will be road or mtb yet. It will depend on the weather.

Ride Recap

We went to Boyette today and rode 23 miles. We've had a lot of rain but this place sheds water well and conditions were just about as good as you could get. Just enough slip in the turns to make it fun. We averaged 10 miles an hour on the computer, which is a pretty brisk pace. I made it through all the technical sections with no problem. I was a little worried because I have been riding the road bike so much that I felt a bit rusty. The off road riding at North Port on tuesdays has paid off. 

I still haven't heard from my friend's daughter on the outcome of the 20 mile challenge. I know it rained there this weekend. I hope that they got some riding in.

Same Old

I've just been riding. On the trainer, on the mountain bike, on the trainer, an endless cycle. My new frame should be in today. It is the Orbea Lanza. I look forward to building it up and riding it. I am not doing the saturday ride. Because I am allowed one day of freedom to ride on the weekends, this week I am going to Alafia on sunday. 

Grog's daughters are with him and they have been riding a lot. A challenge has been put out there for them to complete 20 miles on the mountain bike in one day at the trail. I await for the phone call that confirms their completion. I will be proud of them if they make it. That is a hard milestone the first time it's attempted. I hope they continue to ride when they move away.

Rain Out

All that training for nothing! It started out as a perfect day. Actually it was a little too hot. All the cats before mine went off without a hitch. We even had a second place finish in the cat 3 race. The cat 4's were on the road when all hell broke loose. A monster front blew in bringing high winds and torrential rains. The riders already out said that the wind was actually pushing and sliding their bikes sideways on the wet pavement. There was lightening and debris being blown on the road. The promoter cut the cat 4 race short by 2 laps. Then 30 minutes later decided to cancel our race all together. We have to wait and see what they are going to do. This race decided the state championship. We also have to find out how our entry fees will be refunded. I know they made the smartest decision but it stinks because I really felt in shape for this race. 

Random Thoughts

Yesterday was incredibly hot. It seems that last week wednesday was hotter than the rest of the week as well. We even went home early last week wednesday due to the heat. I didn't ride at all and we skipped BMX. We started using BMX as a reward. If we don't have two good listeners or good eaters, then we don't go. We did ride around the neighborhood as a family.

I will ride the trainer tonight. We are doing a charity ride on saturday morning and the race is sunday. I think we are taking the kids fishing on saturday afternoon. We are celebrating father's day early because I will be gone all day sunday.

This years race team has really come together recently. Last night, our last undecided rider made his choice to ride for us. Now we have a Pro on our team. We ended up with ten people which will field two teams. It should be a great season.

My How Fickle

We are finally receiving the much needed rain that we have been waiting for. But of course in typical Florida style, instead of a nice short, daily summer shower, we've had an afternoon typhoon two days in a row. The skies literally blacken and then unleash hell. We've also had tornados touch down just south of here. Yesterday, the power went out for over an hour. You would think that since the power goes down with almost any substantial rainstorm, that the power company would upgrade the system verses having to constantly send out people to fix it and inconvenience their customers. I guess that's job security. At this point, I've had about enough of the rain. I'm ready to go back to drought. Tonight's ride is in limbo until we see the weather. It would be too perfect if the rain could come overnight. If it continues in this pattern, I'll have to put more days in on the trainer instead of actually riding on the road. That would totally suck.

Lazy Day

Yesterday was just a lazy day. Amy was fighting off a cold and just feeling run down and blah. The boys wanted to go ride the "dirt trail" at Alva but it was so hot all morning that we really didn't feel that it was the best idea for them. We ended up hanging around the house all day. I did manage to get some yard work done. I had been planning to expand the patio area out back due to the fact that the dogs insist on urinating just off the edge of the existing patio. This has caused all the grass to die and a pungent odor to hit you the moment you open the back door. I figure that by widening the patio I cover the dead grass and force the dogs to go further from the back door, hopefully eliminating the odor from so close to the house. I spent a few hours yesterday, with the help of the boys, digging out the entire area where the new pavers would go. We took out five or six full wheelbarrows full of dirt. Now we just have to lay in the pavers and spread some sand on them to lock them in.

I did get my spin on yesterday. I spent an hour on the trainer while it rained outside in the afternoon. I also think that I may have to start riding my bike to work a couple of days a week. The cost of gas and some cutbacks at my work has caused us to tighten our belts financially. I am not thrilled with the idea, but it would be good for the training. I am looking into getting a set of panniers because I have to carry my one gallon water jug, lunch, and work boots if I don't wear them to ride. I'm going to turn my old road bike into a commuter. It already has frame mounts for a rack. I figure I can change the stem to one with more rise so I sit more upright. We will see what happens. The commute is 18 miles one way. I may drive part way and park at my bike shop, then ride from there. That may knock out about 4 to 5 miles. I just hate getting to work and already being sweaty. We have no provisions for showers there.

Good Day

Today I had a good day on the bike. I felt very strong riding to the ride start point. I did a few laps around the parking lot and then started the ride. I was strong for the entire trip and even felt like I had some reserve while I rode home. It usually takes me from 45 minutes to an hour to get home, today it took me a little over 30 minutes. I'm totally sold. Time on the bike is the key to success! Go figure?!

Now that I do see some benefit, it will be easier to keep up my five day a week riding schedule.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It's been oppressively hot lately. The riding however continues. I rode  yesterday (tuesday). I have never sweat so much as we did last night. Until the sun goes completely down, the heat and humidity is unbelievable. I hope to ride the trainer tonight and then we have a road ride tomorrow. The race is a week from this saturday. I hope to see some improvement by then.

I also have been making a conscious effort to drink more water during the day at work. I go through a gallon of gatorade at work the drink water or juice at home. It has made a difference.

Sticking to the Plan

I'm sticking to my training plan..... so far. I am riding either the road bike or mountain bike two days a week and I spend one hour on the trainer at night three days a week. Five days on the bike per week with one very hard ride, one interval ride and three easy spins. I have Thursdays off now so I may do a double ride on thursdays.

I'm training for what will probably be my last road race for this season. It's on june 14th. After that, I'll be focusing all my training towards the mountain bike season. I may do an early race in July in Georgia, but the first definite race will be Labor Day weekend.