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.