cycling

Following a fantastic week of running last week, I scaled things back considerably to allow the old body to recover fully before putting it through a 69 mile schedule next week. To break up the routine, while still keeping the aerobic engine dialed in, two friends and I are heading to Death Valley this weekend for a cycling trip we've dubbed the "Badwater 235" (www.badwater235.com). Basically the route will follow the actual Badwater 135 course out on Saturday (cutting off the first 17 miles for logistical reasons) and then returning the following day. The event profile includes over 17,000 feet of climbing (most of it happening on the first day) and over 17,000 feet of descent (most happening on Day 2). It's not exactly good cold weather preparation, but with two good friends along (who just so happened to be crew members of mine last year at Badwater), it should make for a really fun weekend of cycling.

Many of us ride bikes, too. Bikes have even infiltrated this site (thanks Bobby). So it's good timing that the Enthusiast group has just launched a wing-ding new road bike site YourCycling.com

I'm a runner and no bikie gear-head, but I do love the look of a nicely-set-up road bike, and I do follow the TdF every year, so it's great to have a sister site to drop in on.

Enthusiast-in-chief at YourCycling is Whitey Debroux, who is already getting plenty of stick from site visitors claiming he has a habit of falling off when turning his head to look at girls.

Listening carefully to my inner voice I choose to remain in my cross-training phase. Two training sessions today: a ride this morning and weight lifting/climbing this afternoon.

THE RIDE
rise before dawn
at 3:00 am
slip out for the brisk morning ride
let the rhythmic pedaling begin
soothing, yet powerful steady breaths
rhythmic breathing
my mind moves into “the zone”
an altered state of only “nowness”
only the presence of the task at hand

rhythmic up – up – up – up – up – up pedaling
peaceful-stillness envelops me

rhythmic up – up – up – up – up – up pedaling

Most of my miles are along the paths of the Columbus Metro Park Systems. On Wednesday morning I opted for the planned wind chill ride. As expected the wind was howling and the temps had dipped to the low 20's. There was about 1/2 an inch of snow on the ground. The icy chill in the air had caused all of the standing puddles of 3 days of rain to ice over. I would find out just how solid the ice was all too soon.

The 21 mm tires on my tri-bike slung snow up onto my helmet and my back. The initial shock of cold snow sneaking inside my thin jacket shocked my system and seemed to spur my legs to go faster. Perhaps is was an involuntary response to warm up. The snow and ice beneath the tirese made the flimsy bike even less responsive than normal. My cold tight muslces stabbed at the pedals and my rear wheel would spin at the top of every pedal stroke. I soon realized I was in for a long ride.