katrina has arrived

Yesterday it rained all day and today the weather has been nothing short of bizarre.

I woke up and it was incredibly windy but nothing else. Driving to work it was wet, rainy, and sunny all at the same time - kind of like after a sun shower. It's been this strange intermittent rain all day but still pretty bright out, yet the clouds are so dark and moving like a movie time lapse scene where 24 hours is shown over a period of a minute and a half. Creepy.

We're supposed to get rain throughout the rest of today and then it should be beautiful weather the rest of the week and weekend.

T minus 54:50:43 until the Baguers hit the tarmac in ATL.

me, me, and me

One of my favorite phrases that I use often (and no, it's not, "Huh,") is that you learn something new every day. Today was certainly no exception.

Well, perhaps I should start with yesterday for the sake of uniformity.

Got home last night, a little later than planned, but rode the extended BCM. I knew I would be slower because I was trying to keep my heart rate under 160 bpm. It was a really nice ride - I can't believe how fortunate I've been with the cool weather this week. So I rattled off just under 20 miles.

I planned on riding the Chamblee-Tucker route today, which was 23 miles the last time Pinky and I rode it. Strangely enough though, it was only 16.2 miles today. I doubt that the route magically morphed it's distance between the two rides, yet I can't explain it. You know, quantum theory states that time is different for everyone (or something like that). Maybe that applies to distance as well, or we live in the Bermuda triangle of the Atlanta area. Seriously though, I don't know why our math was so off but today's ride was shorter than anticipated.

Back to what I learned today about me.

Today I realized that I have become more attune to my heart rate without looking at the monitor. I usually don't change the limits so the beeping means nothing to me - I just keep looking at it. But today I did change the limits to keep myself under 170 bpm. I could actually tell by how I felt, within 1 bpm, what the monitor said, without looking, almost every time. It was eerie, yet impressive.

The other thing I noticed about my heart rate this week is that I'm recovering a lot faster than I have been. I'm taking this as a sign that I'm getting better, whether it means that or not.

Tomorrow I'm thinking about merging the extended BCM and Chamblee-Tucker routes which I think should put me over 30 miles. But given my Nobel math skills and the Bermuda triangle scenario it will probably only be 6 miles and I'll end up in Alabama.

clueso

My Pinky is a good man.

The guy cooks dinner 6 out of 7 nights a week so when he asks me to whip something up, I can't really say no. Thus, there was no ride for Cupcake last night, but I did make a killer Thai red curry with tofu and vegetables.

That being said, tonight we'll ride (the 'we' being Helix and me).

Since there is nothing to report...

Check out this musician, Clueso. One of the PIs who has been working in Vienna brought this back. It's a unique sound that iTunes classifies as rap/hip hop. And oh yeah, it's in German. The album is 'Gute Music' and you can listen to some of the tracks. I think it rocks.

Papa, you're fluent, aren't you? Enjoy.

hit me 2x

Incredibly enough, it's been two days in a row with fantastic rides.

Last night I rolled off 17.72 miles and I thought I was going at a slightly slower pace than the day before, but I wasn't. My average speed was still up and I felt great. My heart rate was slightly lower than the day before, which is good. Looks like the 13 days in rhinovirus hell might not have been that bad for my overall status.

Pink goes to the doctor this morning. I'm sure we'll all be awaiting the verdict. I just hope it's nothing serious and the doctor tells him to get back on Big Red!

Today I'm going to pump out the 21-miler but take it easy. That should get me ready for whatever I decide to do this weekend.

cupcake is back

Wow - yesterday's ride was phenomenal.

I got home late and it was looking pretty overcast - not so much that it was going to rain but it was getting dark and I only have the flashing light on the back of my seat post. So instead of scrapping the day I decided to do a shorter ride than I planned but to haul ass to get home before it got dark. As I told Pinky, I'm not so worried about being able to see where I'm going but more that I'll get hit by some jackass who isn't paying attention to the flashing light on Helix.

I did the Walmart ride (10.5 miles) at a pretty good pace; I barely had time to drink any water because I kept timing all the traffic lights right. I picked up my average speed by more than 1 mph (even though it felt like it should have been more) and felt GREAT when I got home. I think my legs have finally come back and this time it only took two rides for my seat to re-adjust to being on the saddle.

It's amazing how a drop in the temperature can make you feel when you ride. Because it was so late and overcast it was probably about 10 degrees cooler than it has been and it was bloody brilliant to ride in that. Tonight, though, I am going to try to get home earlier and pack in about 20 miles. I'm hoping today will be another cooler day.

Pinky had a nice homemade pizza ready to go when I got home and we sat down to watch Entourage. If you haven't seen it, you need to. It's on HBO so if you have HBO and digital cable you can watch it On Demand. I highly recommend it - my favorite show on television right now.

home brew

Gosh, it was hot out this morning.

Yesterday I went out about 8:30 am and this morning about 9:30. There must have been at least a 15 degree difference in the temperature between the two. Managed to squeeze off 18 miles this morning, albeit a tough 18. This is almost like starting over. I suspect that this week I'll start to feel like I'm closer to where I was before the back-packing trip. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself so I can see an end in sight to this punishment.

Other activities for today include beer making, mixed in with some drinking. Pinky and his friend Matt have been at it since before I returned from my ride and they've still got several hours to go, on both counts. It sure does smell good. Anyone around at Christmas should get to sample the goods.

Carry on, then. I can hear them opening the next bottles.

sniff sniff

I found out last night that Bags predicted to Papa that our training would falter. After an unprecedented 13 days off the road I would say his assessment was accurate. But have no fear, Helix has been resurrected from the stuffy confines of the garage and loved breathing the fresh morning air today. I promised Bags I would ride today and blog post-haste, so be it.

We hit the road around 8:30 am and rode 13.52 miles, about 50 minutes. And believe me, I paid for my 13 days huddled up on the couch with a blanket and a box of tissues. But tomorrow will be easier. I don't have a million other things to do so I can go for a nice, long, easy ride.

And apparently Pinky has an excuse as well for being off the saddle. He hurt his back about a month ago and clearly hasn't been forthcoming about how much it hurt him. He's off to finally see a doctor and we'll see where that puts him.

pink in headlights

It's been several days off for Team Chianti, which doesn't necessarily bode well for Cupcake. After vowing to never miss 4 days in a row again I have now been off the saddle for a consecutive 6 days. This will hurt.

The back-packing trip took out some of my steam but it's the rhinovirus that's got me now. I'm hoping to shed this thing enough so that I can ride tomorrow afternoon and Sunday.

Since there's no cycling team news here's a recap of our recent trip.

We spent in the first night in a motel in Robbinsville because it was raining so hard, but actually had to drive to another county for dinner so we could have some wine. Believe it or not, there are still dry counties in this country. What are these people thinking??? Their moonshine must be too good.

Monday we hiked in a little over 5 miles on the Snowbird Creek Trail in NC. For the most part it was pretty flat, except when Pinky misread the map and we had to climb a STEEP 1.1 mile section to get to camp. Fabulous.

We set up camp near a great waterfall that flowed into a sizeable pool of frigid water, which Pinky did actually swim in. We fished for Brookies (Brook Trout for the non-anglers) that afternoon and the following day. Brookies are quite possibly the most beautiful fish I have ever seen. And the ones we caught were about that size.

Back at the cars we chatted with some forest service workers who of course told us that the best fishing was right there at the trailhead because that's where they stock the creek. Wouldn't you know it.

a bit chilly

So I might be turning into a morning rider after all.

Today we finally got Pink and Big Red back on the road. They rode about 8.5 miles and I kept going to try and loosen my legs up with a long easy ride. I ended up doing 18.5 miles and felt great. It was so cool and pleasant to ride this morning - dare I say I even felt a slight chill going down the hill by our house.

I also saw where every cyclist in the greater Atlanta area meets on Saturday mornings. There is a group ride that leaves from near our house, however, I don't think this will be one Pinky and I ride with. Apparently, this is no ride for amateurs, and the pace is fierce. But I did get some nice waves from the guys as they put their bikes together. There must have been 30 or 40 of them.

I'll squeeze in a quick ride in the morning before we head to the mountains for the next couple of days. Like I said, if I can help it, I won't be off four days in a row again.

Also of news, the Bags clan have confirmed their trip and we're looking forward to showing Bags our rides down here and getting him out for a couple of days in a row.

pink's return

Hmm, yesterday was rough. After resting Wednesday because it was just too hot, I rode the same long ride as Tuesday, 20.93 miles. But I felt so much slower. I really had to push to get home in the same time as I did Tuesday. Pink says it's because it was so hot outside.

I feel like I'm getting worse but I'm doing longer rides. So far this week, with 3 rides, I am over 50 miles and about 4 hours total time. I've still got 2, maybe 3 rides left before we jet for the NC mountains Sunday. A few days of back-packing will be nice.

Pinky finally got his wheel back but got home too late to ride last night. Tomorrow we get him back on the road.

Ciao!

team wagon

Is it possible that if you are feeling stressed or have had a particularly stressful day that your heart rate will be above what it normally should be during a ride? Yesterday I only did the Walmart ride, barely 11 miles, and it was tough. My heart rate was way faster than what it was the day before on the tougher ride and I don't really have an explanation. I wasn't averaging any faster than I usually do, although I did hit a new max speed.

Another oddity that I noticed, probably some time last week, was that Team Chianti is transforming into Team On-the-Wagon.

Papa asked me in Italy if we drank wine every night. Since Pinky sells it for a living, of course I said yes. Wine with dinner pretty much every night. It's a given.

But since we've started training I find us only busting a cork the night before a rest day. Bizarre behavior for us. I didn't think Pinky would love anything more than the grape.

FYI...Pinky's wheel is finally ready so we'll see if we can't get him out there tonight.

things I've learned

Sorry for the late post...I had no idea there was such a demand.

As most know, I also coach volleyball. A couple of years ago one of our new coaches emailed the rest of us after his first weekend of coaching girls in a volleyball tournament. His email started off something like this:

Things I've learned this weekend...
Sometimes girls will cry for no reason at all.

He went on to list a few other things that were pretty funny. I've stolen this format from him once before. Many of you may have even received that email after my initial start at training for the Italy trip. It went something like this:

Things I've learned this weekend...
Hills suck and I'm out of shape.

I honestly don't remember what else I had on the list so I'm compelled to make a new one. So, for the second time I'm ripping off my friend Mike's original email.

Things I learned this weekend...
1. Four days off in a row is TOO many for Cupcake and Helix. The first 10 minutes of my ride were hard. I didn't like that. I will not go that long without riding again, if I can help it.
2. Despite being off Helix for four days, it wasn't as detrimental as I thought it would be. For a much longer ride my max speed (which has been steadily increasing) was the same and so was my average, including all the new hills I added.
3. No matter how I feel during the first part of a ride, I am ALWAYS going to feel better in the second half.
4. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I really missed riding this weekend. I think I've actually become a little addicted.

Since it had been so long I thought I owed myself a longer ride so I rode about 21 miles, my longest weekday ride yet. I combined the BCM and my Walmart loop. It was kind of tough since the part I added was all uphill. But it felt good. I might have even felt a little nauseated, although fortunately nothing came to fruition.

FYI, the bike shop forgot about Pinky's wheel so he still doesn't have it. Won't be ready until Wednesday. That means more than a week off Big Red for Pinky. Ouch.