Getting Used To It Fast

I am into the 3rd day of the new old routine; work during the day, ride in the evening. Something that has been very hard for me to do since starting XXC in 2009. It's good to be back and I am really getting used to it. It has me wishing I would have done this ages ago. It feels more like a "normal" work day routine, and anyone that knows me knows that I am a creature of habit and routine. I know I won't be able to ride after work like this all the time, and will surely take advantage of my flexible schedule but this feels good. Hopefully I can also learn other ways to deal with end of the work day stresses/failures/self loathing) beyond drinking beer.

Last night I rode at MMCC again. I like to TT the 14+ mile course every so often. Last night was not the night to do it! My legs were dead straight away and I reckoned I must have lost gobs of minutes off my current PR lap time of 1:13 that I did on the Spearfish a week or so ago.

After the first little climb I thought about abandoning the TT idea, but pressed on and started getting some mojo. This week I was using the Ti El Mariachi with the Thudbuster. I don't see TOO much difference with using the Thudbuster on the HT. The only downside is that while it does increase comfort, it's still not a FS bike, meaning that even though it ads comfort it does nothing to help the bike contour the trail. Anyway....

I love riding in the woods on a summer evening. The sun in more orange, the greens of the forest floor "pop." Still, that did nothing for my TT. I was stoked at the HR I was able to maintain, but in the end I finished a full 3+ minutes off pace. Considering how dead my legs felt I'm shocked it wasn't worse. Ha! I am also SUPER stoked that my shoulder has been a NON issue for the past week or so (at least while riding). I still find it hard to believe how long it has taken to fully recover from that freaking crash, IN MARCH! Still it could have been worse (see Racin' Rick's hip, Goddamn that sucks. Feel super bad for him).

I realized today that I had ridden 4 days in a row and maybe should have taken a day off (you know, 'cause I suck), but I don't want the new routine to lose it's new "routine-ness." So I did Monday's road loop this evening but at an easier pace. I would have liked to hit the dirt roads but the Jake/Snake is down at Terry's getting a complete and LOOOOOONG overdue makeover. In any event it was another sweet night of riding out in the farm country of central Michigan.

Good stats on my bad fats

I have about 155 miles in the past 5 days (both road and mountain bike) and 3 beerless days. Not to mention for the past month I've been good about avoiding pasta and beans (baring one night of beans on vacation, it's been about a month... wish I could say the same for my vacation pizza/Beer binge. DOH!). There's just not enough nutrients and too many calories in the pasta (I can still hear Ben saying "I told you so"). It's also been fun to come up with new ways of getting good carbs and fiber. I am also over a month of no milk or sugar in my coffee. Because of that I am saving calories AND realizing how damn good a bathtub sized cup of black as night coffee can be.

But enough about me... Wait, this is MY blog. Kidding.

Later.