Saturday brought my return to the road after a post CX forced hiatus. My ribs had been feeling pretty decent for a couple days and figured I would give it a go. Just in case, I popped an Ibuprofen before leaving home.
One thing I had not done lately was pump my tires. The discomfort I felt made me wonder if riding was a smart decision but it seemed unlikely that I would be using my upper body as much as when using the floor pump. Just in case, I started the ride cautiously and followed wheels for a while. Eventually, I began to feel more confident. Or maybe I just did not think and began to ride with less caution. We hit our first hill on Hertel and after following wheels at the start I hopped out of the saddle and danced up the hill quite nicely. From then on, I felt pretty confident that I would be fine for the rest of the ride.
Once we reached Freeburg I was at the head of the group for most of the 25 or so miles back to Columbia while setting a reasonable tempo. I felt surprisingly good after a couple weeks off.
Sunday, we met at Meramec CC. No one came with a plan and we circled in the parking lot for what seemed like five minutes pondering the route possibilites with as much thought as a Greek philosopher. We ultimately settled into a fairly standard JeffCo route although we did tackle the nasty Col de Corisande behind George Winter Park at the suggestion of Marco. That damn thing doesn't feel good with December legs. Anyway, from there we tackled the hills of Romaine Creek with a side adventure of watching Giuseppe try and tackle a private road called Jensen Hills that kicks upward in an unpleasant way. Most of stopped at the base near the NO TRESPASSING sign but Giuseppe is not to follow signs. He made quite good progress and looked strong for a little over half the hill. Then came a mean kick and his progress stopped in about 10 ft. and the feet touched down. He turned around as we enjoyed a chuckled at the base. After that side excursion we headed into Haute Arrete and down into Parque de Vallee.
For over a month my legs had done little more than hour-long rides. As we approached Marshall Hill my body was starting to feel the affects of two longish days in the saddle. I took my time up the climb and saved a little for the ride home.
Weekend totals were 112 miles. Not a bad start to the winter training. It is turning cold this week so it looks like a lot of quality trainer time coming up. I actually look forward to it. At least two hours on the trainer sounds like a good way to ring in the New Year.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Heras retires. Boohoo. Apparently, he feels he is too good to ride for a Continental team. So sorry to not see your doped ass fly up a mountain anymore, Roberto. You were fun to watch on the Angliru but really, who is that impressed anymore now that you have been caught.
A couple days ago round 6 of the Superprestige CX series was held in Diegem. This years race was held under the lights. Seems like a crazy idea but it seemed to go off without too much difficulty. The race did yield what could be the quote of the year. Behold the DUH! statement of the year from Bart Wellens "The problem was that we were warming up in the light and racing in the dark. This difference is night and day." Who says pro cyclists are not smart?
Hwy 40/I-64 is shutting down in two days. I am almost giddy with the thought. The media is salivating with the impending armageddon of a highway shutdown. The dark side of me loves chaos and this holds the potential. Another side of me loves to hate the media. Nothing would please me more than to see the city cope without much problem and spoil the media's plans for endless stories of MoDOT's screw-ups.
One thing I had not done lately was pump my tires. The discomfort I felt made me wonder if riding was a smart decision but it seemed unlikely that I would be using my upper body as much as when using the floor pump. Just in case, I started the ride cautiously and followed wheels for a while. Eventually, I began to feel more confident. Or maybe I just did not think and began to ride with less caution. We hit our first hill on Hertel and after following wheels at the start I hopped out of the saddle and danced up the hill quite nicely. From then on, I felt pretty confident that I would be fine for the rest of the ride.
Once we reached Freeburg I was at the head of the group for most of the 25 or so miles back to Columbia while setting a reasonable tempo. I felt surprisingly good after a couple weeks off.
Sunday, we met at Meramec CC. No one came with a plan and we circled in the parking lot for what seemed like five minutes pondering the route possibilites with as much thought as a Greek philosopher. We ultimately settled into a fairly standard JeffCo route although we did tackle the nasty Col de Corisande behind George Winter Park at the suggestion of Marco. That damn thing doesn't feel good with December legs. Anyway, from there we tackled the hills of Romaine Creek with a side adventure of watching Giuseppe try and tackle a private road called Jensen Hills that kicks upward in an unpleasant way. Most of stopped at the base near the NO TRESPASSING sign but Giuseppe is not to follow signs. He made quite good progress and looked strong for a little over half the hill. Then came a mean kick and his progress stopped in about 10 ft. and the feet touched down. He turned around as we enjoyed a chuckled at the base. After that side excursion we headed into Haute Arrete and down into Parque de Vallee.
For over a month my legs had done little more than hour-long rides. As we approached Marshall Hill my body was starting to feel the affects of two longish days in the saddle. I took my time up the climb and saved a little for the ride home.
Weekend totals were 112 miles. Not a bad start to the winter training. It is turning cold this week so it looks like a lot of quality trainer time coming up. I actually look forward to it. At least two hours on the trainer sounds like a good way to ring in the New Year.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Heras retires. Boohoo. Apparently, he feels he is too good to ride for a Continental team. So sorry to not see your doped ass fly up a mountain anymore, Roberto. You were fun to watch on the Angliru but really, who is that impressed anymore now that you have been caught.
A couple days ago round 6 of the Superprestige CX series was held in Diegem. This years race was held under the lights. Seems like a crazy idea but it seemed to go off without too much difficulty. The race did yield what could be the quote of the year. Behold the DUH! statement of the year from Bart Wellens "The problem was that we were warming up in the light and racing in the dark. This difference is night and day." Who says pro cyclists are not smart?
Hwy 40/I-64 is shutting down in two days. I am almost giddy with the thought. The media is salivating with the impending armageddon of a highway shutdown. The dark side of me loves chaos and this holds the potential. Another side of me loves to hate the media. Nothing would please me more than to see the city cope without much problem and spoil the media's plans for endless stories of MoDOT's screw-ups.
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