I'm lacking something. Somewhere.
The Pie and I had a DINC weekend. Time on our hands. An economy to boost. Rain Friday night and I wake up wondering what normal people do on a Saturday morning when they don't ride mountain bikes.
Whine, piss, bitch, mope about the house... certain the local trails are closed.
What do people do? Srsly.
"Why don't you just buy a road bike so you can get a good ride in when this happens?" asks The Pie.*
*shiver*
Go downstairs and check the local trail status. Some things are open. Mebbe not what I'm in the mood for but also not buying a road bike.
Check the weather. Humidity through the roof and storms coming later.
I'm not going road bike shopping... but this:
That leaves me with the Stickel, which I really don't wanna take out of Pisgah mode. 32X20 and all that, not to mention the not-too-quick handling from putting a 120mm fjork on a bike meant to be rigid or at the most, 100mm of air-sprung squish. Not the best bike for the local twisty turnies.
Any ride is better than no ride (or a road ride), so fuck it.
One quick local loop at pleasure pace (32X20, so no choice, natch) all by my lonesome and backtrack a little to drop/jump some things that drop/jump a few times. Nobody ever does that on a road bike ride.
Good thing I got out so I could sweat my balls off while I could. Huge storms came through Saturday evening.
Sunday, I found myself looking at road bikes on the internet. Watching le (other) Tour in another window.
Close the window with the road bikes for me and watch the road bikes for others.
Organize the junk room. What's become of me?
"There's nothing wrong with taking a day off," says The Pie.
Not knowing what else to do (other than go to Bike Source and buy a road bike)... I went running.
I know.
It's not that I hate running. I did try to start up again this past winter... which is probably dumb. Too cold. My old man joints ache. I gave up pretty quickly this past... November? Who can remember these things?
I might stick with this for awhile. Without a race to train for in the near future, I can't see getting up at 5:30AM to get enough saddle time in before I leave for work to make a difference.
But I can see getting up at 6:15AM to work up a sweat and enjoy feeling like an athlete (or something).
BTW: Just throwing this out there. This is too much to google, what with all the words and stuff. Anyone know if there are downsides to working out in the heat, day after day, week after week? For an "older" person? More recovery time needed?
Just wondering. My commute home from work is only @25 minutes, but when I get home? Whooped. Hard. I could take a cold shower and go straight to bed.
Of course, I don't. Shower, eat, hang out, go for a walk, drink beer... watch something on the entertainment rectangle. Don't normally feel like this, but when it's hot?
Yeth. Almost every day.
Don't mention hydration. Some days I do a good job. Some, not so good. Doesn't affect the feels.
* I'm not going to lie and say that I don't wonder about this some times. Just like running, I used to like this. Just like I used to enjoy listening to Bruce Springsteen. Bueno or no bueno?
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6 comments:
Advocat sez:
Uwharrie was muey bueno both Saturday and Sunday morning. The Poston boys tout it but Uwharrie walks the talk - "almost always open".
sleep... when in doubt sleep!
sleep is good for old people, like me as well... we're not that old there boy! 47 isn't that old, I know guys that still DH ride radical stuff in their 50s... when they fall though, they really fall hard.
I hear yah about road ride, but its like brussel sprouts... yur mom always said eat yur greens boy. Road riding is like that, its tremendously boring but necessary to keep up the cadence and that sort of stuff. All the top ten do trainers, I ain't doing that sht... that turns me away from racing completely. That's like being a hamster going round and round and round... boooooring.
But, a cool thing do to - buy a cyclocross bike and bike the trails with a cyclocross bike. I'm trying to organize a 100 miler "how low can you go race" - points awarded to those who race on skinnies instead of fatties cause its a challange riding on skinnies, esp technical riding.
So, maybe consider a cyclocross ride?
you're lucky to have such a great wife ! all the partners I had ended up hating my biking cause I was never home... which was a good thing, cause we'd just end up fighting anyhow when I was home cause I got bored shtless sitting around going shopping and shit like that like "normal" people do - boring..
Sat, I got in a flat road ride then 1.5 hours of mtb. Sun, flat road ride, swim, and 3hrs of mtb... mtb is fun, road is boooooring but necessary like "eat yur greens"...
If your wife has authorized the purchase of ANY bike - buy it! You can always trade it in for another mtb later :)
Tilly says it is necessary to train in the heat. Nuff said!
Ricardo, is there ground-level ozone in your town? Ozone will decrease your available O2 and make you feel winded quickly. I used to say it felt like I'd spent the afternoon trying to swim long distances underwater. My 45 mins commute used to make me do no rides after work on high ozone days.
Ricardo, didn't pay enough attention to realize you're in Charlotte. You have ground-level ozone there and it's an issue. Your state AQ dept prides itself on compliance with a relaxed (read: still not good for athletes) standard:
http://www2.ncair.org/news/pr/2015/nc_meets_air_quality_standards_07292015.shtml
Sunny & hot, lots of car/truck/bus traffic = ground level ozone. The air O3 is what it is, not what NCDENR says it is. State enviro agencies will say O3 levels "safe" because most Americans are sedentary. They don't do anything mildly strenuous when it's hot & sunny.
Breathe that O3 infused air all day long as a bike messenger, you'll feel like doo-doo at the end of your work day.
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