Beautiful Roads and Fudgy Bars

The weather this weekend was once again unseasonably amazing and I took full advantage. 70 and almost 80 degrees both days meant I have started getting used to the summer weather out of necessity instead of gradually as the weather changed. Drinking water at the correct rate has become difficult because, and I’m almost not joking here, it seems I need to drink a gallon an hour. But as much as things are strange, don’t take my comments as critical. Mother Nature, you’re one strange woman. Normally in my life when a woman is treated poorly, she bites back viciously and swiftly. But we have been pumping harmful gases at you and covering your surface with asphalt, and you seem to be rewarding us with early season beauty. Needless to say, I’m confused. The truth is, that everyone needs to watch out for upper Midwest racers this season. With this kind of weather this time of year, we’re going to be unseasonably strong.

But like I said, I took full advantage of it. After reading some articles on the lost art of the group ride and the dying breed of fast and smart, but not necessarily strong bike racers I decided it was a good weekend for some epic group rides. One tap for Saturday was a ride out west on some new roads. I invited everyone, and about half showed. Even fewer kept up and made it all the way out to the newer roads. But those who were left were some teammates from the KS-Energy-Team Wisconsin MTB squad. We took Sweeney Road from K then climbed county HH. It is a 3km climb, at about 3%. Not super long, not super tough. But the scenery on the way up is unbelievable. And she isn’t a forgiving climb either. With the wind from the South we crested the winding and sunny road to a desolate plateau of farm fields with a strong head wind that made it seem like we were still climbing on the flats. From there we descended back down on Blue Ridge road, aptly named, and then climbed up Lakeview Road. It’s another gorgeous road and a very interesting climb similar to HH but with its own character. It kicks right away, and then levels as you see the trees ending. I waved and said hi to a kid playing in their yard then looked ahead as I cleared the trees to see the road really turn up; I was only half way there. Similar to HH, it was a stiff head wind at the top, breath taking as it is, well, breath taking (I was gassed at the top). I’ll be doing some more exploring next weekend, I absolutely can’t wait.

But now on to a much more important piece of business. It’s been too long and they have done to much for me mentally and physically to not give them proper mention here on this blog. I have a love hate relationship with them, but I’m always welcomed with a warm, chocolaty embrace. Fudgy bars. For those of you who know about them, you understand what I mean. For those of you who don’t, let me explain.

Children should look away, this is basically porn

Fudgy bars are these tasty granola bars, dipped in really cheap but oh so delicious fudge. They are the perfect combination of healthy granola bar, with the satisfying smooth chocolate that I often crave. They are made by a company akin to Little Debbie to give you an idea of where they fit on the performance food spectrum. They would be the perfect long ride food if they didn’t melt in your pocket. Situations like these have repeatedly resulted in my licking the wrapper like a crack head trying to get that little bit to keep me going. The worst part is that they are usually not satisfying, but they are filling. Holding the bar lets you know just how dense it is. My guess is that the preservative and filler make it heavy, but reading the ingredients list, you realize it’s not that bad for you. They are mostly oats, granola and chocolate. Beyond that, they are $2.99 for a box of 12.

I told myself I needed to stop eating them because they are blank extra calories that I don’t need when I’m trying to slim up. I bought a box on Friday, it’s half gone already.

I’m quite tired, but my legs sure aren’t

Let me explain. The weather has been getting nicer and nicer. I’ve been riding a lot, for me at least, in the last few weeks and getting into some good shape and really putting in a solid set of base miles. It’s really been working, because I’ve been feeling motivated, excited, and most importantly like I’m making solid steady progressions in my fitness. Especially in the last couple of weeks, I feel like I’m getting on top of the pedals more and feeling good about the coming year.

To top off that already great news, last weekend was my birthday. I was hoping to say thank you to everyone individually, but it never happened so I guess I can do it here. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. With the weather as nice as it was, I think I would have had to try pretty hard to have a bad birthday. But as it was I couldn’t think of anything that would make it better, save seeing my parents. On Saturday morning we set out for a long ride in a sturdy wind. We started with a big group, but it was split after one of the climbs when there was some confusion as to whether we needed to wait. But I wasn’t paying much attention, my head was down and I was driving on trying to catch the guys that beat me up the climb. I caught them and continued in the wonderfully warm spring air.

I remember feeling such profound happiness when we were cruising along on a plateau. The grass was beginning to change back to green from brown and the air smelled like spring time in Wisconsin (ie cow shit). The late winter clouds began to burn off and unlike just a week ago the views were so much clearer. You could gaze across from one hilltop to the next and see that the weather was just as nice over there. The group ended up splitting again and it was just Skip and myself who brought it home for what turned out to be a long ride. 110 miles, about 6 hours and 26 minutes, and of course over 6,000 calories burned.

I was beat, but not finished. I was happy to feel like although I was tired and worn, I was still awake and felt like I could keep things moving. I made some food and showered, then got read for the evening. The Cycling club was holding a party at our place for my birthday. I’ll be honest, I struggled with how hard I should go in the paint, because there was at least 4 more hours on tap for the next day. At the end of the day, maybe I should have taken it a little bit easier, but that would have been way less fun. Plus I think I might have replenished a solid portion of the calories burned earlier, if thats even possible. But certainly one of the best birthdays I have had in recent memory. Again, thanks to everyone for it!

And that brings me to today. On this fine Tuesday afternoon I sit here at my desk at work. Everyone else has left and it’s after 5. I’m staying late because I need to make up the work I missed while I did my 2 hours to Belleville. I started the day tired, certainly from a lack of sleep over the weekend. Motivation was not too high, but I pushed myself to get out and ride like I told myself I would. Worried I might be over training, I took it easy for the first 10 minutes. But to my surprise, I didn’t want to take it easy. I twisted the throttle and ended up riding tempo the whole time. Something I wasn’t expecting.

And this brings me finally to my point. I am sleepy. I want to sleep and rest and close my eyes. But not my legs, oh not my legs at all. I was yawning on the ride, while pushing 38kph into a head wind. The legs felt rested, but I didn’t. This is really cool, to see my form coming along like this. But beyond this it is really interesting to feel and be aware of these happening with my body.  Now I’m not saying I’m some super human guys, but it reminds me of the short film, “World Record” from the Animatrix series. It really expresses another part of athletics beyond that primitive thrust for competition. It expresses how sport can help you understand the world around you in a different way. Feel free to watch it, and if you have any comments about it, I always love to talk philosophy.

The Seasons are Changing

As I sit here on this rainy Wednesday evening, I have a chance to look at the last couple of weeks. Everything is beginning to change, transitioning from bitter winter to joyous spring. Along with the weather taking a turn for the better, I’ve loved every minute of the last few weeks.

It’s hard to remember that just 2 weeks ago I was suffering through some pretty brutal 4-5 hour rides in sub-freezing weather, with snow everywhere. The last two days have been in the 50s and the roads have been dry. It seriously feels like last summer never left, because I’m right back where I was. And considering how well last year went, that’s a good place to be.

The warmer weather hasn’t really made me faster. A quick look at power numbers and if anything, I’ve slower. But I honestly don’t mind, because I feel like when I push on the pedals, the road takes notice and I am propelled forward. The hours have been adding up, and while I’m still getting in the groove, I can feel it getting easier, I can feel the fitness coming back strong. Besides the riding, a lot of other things have changed. The biggest one is my diet. As a Wisconsin boy, I love my dairy and meat. While I’m still eating dairy, I’ve started to reduce the amount of meat I’m eating. This is really an effort to lose some weight, but also to clean out the system. While meat is delicious and has a lot of good things in it, it has a lot of bad too, so I’m just trying to keep it in moderation. I’m also working on getting the weight down. I’ve almost hit my goal already of 160, and I think I’m going to go lower. We’ll see in time.

Finally some news for the future. I’m proud to announce that in addition to my already sick road bike, I’ll be on a Trek mountain bike as well. More details in the next few weeks, but it definitely is a sweet rig. I cannot wait to get out on the dirt! Time for bed, hopefully the rain washes all the dirt off the roads and dries up before tomorrow’s ride. And hopefully the rain clouds take all this insane wind with them.