HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2012 is here...my how time flies by!

Blogging to return soon.

Test Ride

I know what you're thinking with this blog post title, but it's not what you think. We're talking eyeglasses, not a new bike. Yes...cycling specific, partial wrap-around prescription sunglasses! I've worn eyeglasses since high school and although I've had various forms of prescription sunglasses, I never did pull the trigger on cycling-specific shades. When you're young and poor with an ever changing Rx, you can always find better ways to spend your $$. Now that I'm older with a more stable Rx and a little discretionary money to spend, I decided to stop lusting at the catalog pages and take some action. This led me to SportRx.com and Rob their cycling optician. Rob presented me with some options that would or might work with my very strong prescription...needless to say, the options were not many. He encouraged me to partake in their "test ride" program wherein they send me the frames I'm interested in trying on without any obligations. I selected for my first choice the Rudy Project Horus despite knowing that they were very borderline for my Rx.

However, Rob suggested I try them under their excellent exchange policy knowing that my 2nd choice frames would not be an Rx issue. He assured me that a few folks with a stronger Rx were happy with the Horus, while being honest and also informing me that others with a similar Rx could not live with the distortions introduced by the partial wrap-around lenses. So last night was my test ride with my, for now anyway, new Rudy Project Horus single vision, polarized, Gray No. 3, silver flash mirror super cool cycling sunglasses. :)

I planned a 23 mile early evening ride on a loop where I knew the setting sun would be in my eyes. Here are the test ride results:

• I rode the entire 23 miles without having to return home for the regular glasses


• The Horus lenses did introduce some minor distortions to my vision but the longer I had them on the more I got use to it.


• Did not get a headache


• Did not get dizzy


• Near field vision makes objects seem a bit closer


• Intermediate field vision was nearly perfect


• Distant vision makes objects seem a bit elongated


• The ability to see fine detail on the road surface was enhanced.


• Peripheral vision was blurry, but that happens to me now with my regular progressive glasses.

I think they'll be keepers...but I won't make the final decision until I try them on a couple of mid-day rides.

A quick update on last week's blog post. I never did get into that training groove thanks to a few days of relentless rain and pent up yard work from the last few weekends of yard neglect! Of course, there's always this week!!

Monday Night Ride!

I'm hoping this week to have a breakthough with my riding and to hit a training groove I can sustain. If tonight's ride is any indication, I might be there.
Monday would normally be a recovery day (non-riding), but I didn't ride this weekend (spent 3 days down the Cape for my sister's wedding). So with fresh legs and a beautiful early evening, I figured I'd get in at least 20 miles. My mindset when I set out was just to spin and not to push it. But as seems to be the case at some point in each riding season, my easy ride turned into a ride with an easy to maintain pace faster than my rides the past few weeks...and on the loop I've primarily been riding over the same period. My breakthrough ride? We'll see.
Ride stats: 22.1 miles at 17.1 mph (1 hr - 17 min - 45 sec ride time)

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Tis the question I need to answer if my blog posts are going to be more than a month apart!

Some of my favorite cycling bloggers have apparently walked away from a presence on the web...others clearly struggle like I do with issues of time, interest, topics and audience. This was mainly meant to be a training journal...open to the public for comment...an attempt to add some accountability. It's not like I lack for topics as it's my journal and I continue to ride...and I have dozens of post ideas jotted down on multiple pieces of paper floating around my office, home and backpack. I guess it's time and interest.

Speaking of riding, my miles as shown in the side-bar are meager so far this year but I keep plugging away. In fact, last week I hit a milestone of sorts...I surpassed my meager total from all of last year. Not a huge accomplishment but one I truly hope to build on.

I think I'll keep blogging. This year still holds a lot of potential for some great riding. I want to document that if it comes to fruition! :)

Lost Weekend

I knew something wasn't quite right on Friday afternoon when I started getting stomach cramps half-way through a 22 mile ride. I sometimes get mild stomach cramps after rides or on those hot summer rides immediately after replenishing electrolytes, but this was something different. The cramps eased up after the ride and I had my usual ravenous appetite, but something still did not feel right with my body. I went to bed figuring I'd feel much better in the morning. Wrong!
Morning brought the revelation that I had a stomach virus...a nasty one. I'll skip the gory details suffice it to say that by Sunday morning I had lost 8-9 pounds. I'm definitely trying to lose weight but not like that!
So much for my weekend plans. Missed my cousin's wedding...couldn't go out on Mother's Day...no yard work got done...and goose egg entries in the training log! Truly a lost weekend.
Weekly riding stats are updated in the right side-bar. The weight entry is not a typo...that was my weight on Sunday morning. As I write this, I have thankfully gained 2.5 lbs back.

April Stats

Finished off the month of April with three days of riding...well, the last of those was actually May 1st. Given my dismal early season track record, I never would have guessed that my first month of riding after 8 months off the bike would be so successful. Here are the stats:

Total distance - 213.7 miles
Number of riding days - 14 out of 17 planned.
Average # rides per week - 3.25
Average ride length - 15.26 miles
Average distance per week - 49.7 miles
Weight loss - 7 lb. (I'm currently at 215 down from 222 lb.)

To many of you these are very modest stats, but to me these numbers are huge. My early season track record is pretty spotty, so what I accomplished this April is indicative of some better cycling ahead. The 3 missed days were due to a combination of rain and Sunday family commitments, which crimped my already tight schedule. Beyond May, the holidays and family commitments ease up a bit.

Last year I devised a training schedule that was meant to increase the average distance of my rides, lower the number of riding days per week and overall to allow me more recovery time between rides. My reasons for this are chronicled in a couple of 2010 posts (here and here). Of course, I was never able to implement that plan last year.

This year, when I went out on my first few rides, the objective was just to get out and ride. Having not been on a bike for 8 months I was very aware of the potential for overuse injuries, so I wanted to keep the rides short and ease into the season. That plan so far has been successful, but while I'm slowly increasing the miles, I'm still fiddling with a training schedule and intensity level that works for me. Some people may chuckle when I refer to a training schedule, but that's simply my formula for motivation...and it has always worked in the past. Training of course suggests goals and I have two. The first and most important is to lose weight. I'd like to shed the 2 handle once and for all this year. The second is to be able to ride some fast and comfortable century rides later in the season.

If April is any indication, I'm well on my way to achieving those two goals this year. Wish me luck!

More Springtime in New England!

Yesterday it was only in the 50s...today we bumped up against 80...summertime conditions!!

I'm hoping to do regular Tuesday and Thursday weekday rides this year, so a longish ride was in order. First ride of the season in shorts (without knee warmers) and short sleeves.

26.4 miles @ 15.3 mph. I'm happy with my progress so far.

Springtime in New England

A dose of cold...a dash of Spring. That describes the contrasting conditions on my last two rides. Thursday's ride was frigid for April...the temperature was 50 but the wind was blowing a steady 25 mph from the northwest with gusts to 40 mph. It's tough to get out in these conditions but it always feels great at the end of the ride when you know the training benefits of riding in the stiff wind will pay off later. On Friday there was a quick turnaround in weather conditions as the temperature rose to near 60 and the wind retreated, making for a very nice 21 mile ride.

I'm pretty happy with my last four weeks of riding. The rides have been short but that's by design and it's still early in the season. More importantly, I'm happier with my weight loss of 5 pounds over the same time period because it's due more to eating better than piling up the cycling miles. If I can keep the diet on track, the pounds will melt away easily when the miles start piling up. But that's the rub, as my track record is one of using cycling as an excuse to eat more!

My weekly stats are updated on the side-bar to the right.

Another Week...

...another series of rides to build on. Four rides last week...four short, WINDY rides in tight fitting cycling clothes. Part of my motivation to keep riding is to get these clothes to fit normally again! So in that regard, the wind is my friend...because the wind is my training partner (with thanks to A Midnight Rider). Can I keep this going? That is the all important question.

Beginnings

Some folks write about epic training rides and personal bests...others wax poetic about all things velo. My post today is to report on a modest accomplishment; namely, back to back weekend bike rides. No mileage...no timing...no stats...just two short rides to build on. Felt good to be rolling on two wheels again.