Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

My goal last week was 72 miles. I accomplished goose eggs.

You don't want to hear the excuses...trust me.

Falling Behind the "Firsts"

Here is a list of cycling "firsts" I've been reading about in the blogosphere lately:

• First road bike ride (http://cycling4fun.blogspot.com/2009/03/march-metric.html)
• First Spring Ride (http://ilovemybrookssaddle.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-spring-ride.html)
• First Spring Training Ride (http://www.tindonkey.com/2009/03/first-spring-training-ride.html)
• First race http://suitcaseofcourage.typepad.com/the_suitcase_of_courage/2009/03/weekend-racing.html)
• First team ride (http://mainevelophile.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/first-official-team-ride/)
• First 2009 NBW ride (http://martysbikerides.blogspot.com/2009/03/nbw-028-east-providence-spring-season.html)
• First Week back in the Saddle (http://trialsintri.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-week-back-in-saddle.html)

I'm very pleased to see that my fellow cycling bloggers are faithfully completing their 2009 cycling "firsts" and moving forward toward meeting their cycling goals. I'm certainly not in competition with anyone for any type of cycling stat or bragging rights (except perhaps myself), but my inability to get on track while others are off and running is starting to weigh on me.

The month of March has been particularly frustrating so far with snow-clogged roads to start the month, followed by a bout with the flu, a need to prioritize the completion of home remodeling projects, lingering effects from being sick, and finally this past weekend, a home full of guests for the weekend (my SIL and her 3 children stayed with us this weekend and on Sat we had a birthday party for my daughter). Then a review of my cycling goals for 2009 reveals that I've already missed one entirely - to start routine "training" rides BEFORE daylight savings time begins on March 8. And now I'm starting to question my ability to commit to early morning rides on the weekends as I wimp out upon sight of the thermometer!

I need to get on track soon...the pressure is of my own making but it's building quickly and I don't like the feeling!

Tomorrow looks like a fine day for my FIRST after work ride of the season. We'll see what happens.

Longing for March 1998

Continuing where my last post left off, this past weekend brought less than ideal weather conditions for cycling IMO...at least to be thought of as truly Spring-like. Saturday was sunny with temperatures barely getting out of the 40s and on Sunday the low 50s did not feel warm with the sun playing peek-a-boo and the wind picking up. I was particularly bummed with the cold early morning temperatures on both days. You can see where I'm going with this...yes, no cycling for Glenn this past weekend (the less than ideal weather is only one of a couple of excuses for not riding; the other is we had house guests visiting for the weekend).

But thinking about the weekend weather jogged my memory of a March about 10 years ago. I remember that at the end of that March we had a heat wave with temperatures touching 90 degrees. As usual, my curiosity got the better of me and proved my memory for trivial weather-weenie facts to be fairly accurate. 1998 was the year.

From the Penn State Weather World website (http://www.ems.psu.edu/WeatherWorld/) I found this.

March 1998 Weather Across the Nation:

"...The month concluded with a spectacular heat wave in the Northeast. Portland, Maine reached 88 degrees, their highest reading ever for March and April. Boston and New York City reached their highest March temperatures. Charlottesville, Virginia hit 90 degrees on three consecutive days. A rare outbreak of tornadoes in southern Minnesota devastated the town of St. Peter. One renegade twister even hit northern Michigan where nearly a half foot of snow was still on the ground."

A quick check of climatological records revealed that temperatures peaked on the 31st at:

Boston - 89
Norwood - 90
Providence - 85
Hartford - 89

How I long for those temperatures. And as soon as we get them, I'll be longing for something 15 degrees cooler!

Return From Hiatus

It's hard to believe that my last blog post was over six weeks ago. It wasn't planned...it just sort of happened...per usual! I even got a ride in 3 weeks ago but couldn't get myself to post about it.

So what's been going on in my life since early February? Essentially, I got sucked into the dreaded winter funk...a place I tend to visit each winter but was hoping to avoid this year. Couldn't do it. Despite the snow and lack of riding, January was a good month...even as I found my motivation waning. But in February, laziness took total hold and motivation was lost. It didn't help that near the end of January I suffered a pinched nerve, followed by a 2-week head cold in early February and most recently a bout of the flu. Add to that the stress of dealing with the most severe slow-down I've ever been through at work and you clearly have a good recipe for winter funk!

When I last posted I called out my need for an 8 week training plan to transition to the riding season at a certain fitness level. Sadly, 6 weeks later and that plan has yet to materialize. However, all was not completely lost as we made good progress on the bath remodel project.

Ride Stats (21Feb09 Ride)

Bike: Fixie
Distance: 17.5 miles
Time: about 75 minutes
Average Speed: approx. 14.0 mph
Next scheduled ride: Sunday, 22Feb09 (never happened)
Temperature at start: 38 F
Temperature at end: 35 F
Gear: the winter stuff

So in the final analysis, with Winter finally behind us (I hope I don't regret saying that), I accomplished a whopping total of 2 rides this 2009 winter season. To me that's a HUGE disappointment given my mindset at the end of 2008. On the other hand, riding in the cold in general was a first for me...something I never thought I could motivate myself to do. I guess I can only wonder what might have been accomplished had the winter been warm and snow-less. For example, simply doubling my meager December ride stats (5 rides for 82.2 miles) over the last two months would have been a HUGE success in my book.

January Thaw

I've recently mentioned the January Thaw in several posts. Being the fanatical weather weenie some think I am, and realizing that I have a worldwide audience (well, the potential for a worldwide audience I suppose...although I do know a couple of kind folks from across the pond have ventured onto my blog a few times), makes me feel compelled to provide an explanation of this regional weather phenomenon.

I'll let Keith C. Heidorn, PhD, (THE WEATHER DOCTOR) provide the technical details.

A January Thaw is expected to fall within the third week of January, usually following a strong cold snap, but need not occur every year. In fact, during the very cold winters of the late 1970s, there were no January Thaws in the New England region during 1978 and 1979. (And they could have used a thaw!) There have also been recent mild winters when the Thaw was absent or hardly noticeable...

In prime January Thaw country, the ideal weather pattern characteristic of the Thaw period unfolds in this manner. It begins after a cold air mass from northern or
western regions has slid over the region (A), eventually moving out over the Atlantic Ocean. As that air mass leaves, the Bermuda High strengthens (B,C,D) and becomes positioned over the southern Atlantic Coast or southeastern US
states while a broad low pressure trough moves slowly across northern Ontario and Quebec (B-E). The juxtaposition of the isobar patterns of these two map features (E) places the northeastern US and southeastern Canada border region into a south-southwesterly flow of warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. This air advects over the northern snow and ice fields and begins a thawing.

Often during this time, the upper air wind patterns are in a period of readjustment, and thus surface weather systems stall or creep slowly across the eastern continent's mid-latitude belt. After several days of warmth, the regional weather again comes under the influence of a strengthened polar high (F,G), and cold weather returns.

Technically,the January Thaw is what is known as a weather singularity, which is a weather phenomenon likely to occur with reasonable regularity around a specific approximate calendar date. That date is typically January 23-25...and those of us living in these parts know that we have not observed any type of thaw over the past several days nor do we have any type of thaw in store over the next few days.

If I had known there would be no January Thaw this year, I would have made a greater effort to get on the bike trainer. Yeah, right!!

Missed Opportunities

Missed opportunities or excuses, excuses, excuse! I was going to go with the "excuses x 3" for the title of this post but I'm saving that title for a later date that I know all too well will come. Yes, the long holiday weekend presented several riding opportunities all of which I allowed to pass. Too cold, too wet, too windy...too tired, too lazy, too busy...they all applied over the post-Christmas 3-day weekend. Not even a new Garmin Edge 305 could motivate me. Yup, pretty pathetic!! But on the other hand, I got to spend some quality time with the kids playing with their new toys which includes the family gift of the Wii (Wii Sports, Wii fit, and MarioKarts to start). Other than the kids DS units, we're not really video heads in this family, so it was not just about new video games but also learning the basics of using all the gizmo's that come with a Wii console. We don't have everything mastered quite yet, but we're having lots of fun learning. And so far daddy is the champion of most of the Wii games, but as I learned with the DS, give my son enough time and daddy is no longer good enough to play with him. :-(

I'm heading out of town for a day so I guess my 12/18 ride was in fact the last ride for 2008.