ride data: 3/3/06 -leg warmers are for aerobics...

well that sucked!

For some reason I can't seem to figure out that when it says its windy on the computer before I go out that if I'm riding well going out, that means it's at my back! [ed. note-my wife says I don'ted writed this gooder. Long story short, I can't apply the info I read on the computer w/ the real-time conditions as I'm riding.] Which means that it's going to suck getting home. I've done it nearly every time. Today was no different, except that the starting temp was around 40° combined w/ wind speeds of up to 20mph so the wind chill was below freezing! That sucked! It was the kind of wind that when you take a drink while your nose is running it feels like you're drowning. Meanwhile your throat is coating itself to protect you from damage combining w/ the energy gel making another interesting concoction preventing you from breathing like you should as you're riding into oncoming wind… Other than that, the ride was awesome! Clear skies, and for at least half of the ride, NO WIND!

I was really concentrating on pedaling circles as much as I could remember to. The physical act is not hard, it's training your mind to remember to keep it up as you tire. It's not up to muscle memory yet. I'll talk about that another time.

30 miles but w/ a nice hill added into the mix at the midpoint. It's in this old development that's across the street (or parkway in this case) from the trail and it has multiple hills of varying degrees of steepness and length for repeats. I'm not doing repeats yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I was just happy to get over it for right now.

altitude courtesy of trial and error.

When I turned on my watch I noticed that it gave me a starting point of 130ft. I don't have a topo map, and I'm bloody well not going to pay for the access on the net ("bloody" courtesy of Chaahlee on Lost), since I live right near a great starting point: the Potomac River! I never start down there though, and I haven't calculated the elevation from there to where I live now like I did before. But considering what it came out to be on the ride above, I'm thinking that I'm roughly 200ft above sea level. I have to do a run just for the true number sometime.

rest of the blah, blah, blah…

My kCal was at 1200 I think. My data is at home and now I can't remember. I like that my HR is coming down even when I was fighting the wind. Starting to get stronger every ride.

Plus, I'm still rolling w/ just knee warmers, no damn leggings for me. I'm making it my mission to get through this winter w/ out having to resort to tights. I do have to say I'm using Sports Balm's Freddy's Choice Warm Up Xtra for the exposed parts. A little bit of oil to help block the wind, and some cayenne to warm you up. It's pretty cool feeling when your pores open up allowing the hot stuff to get in there. That sentence is kinda paradoxical isn't it? Anyway, you end up smelling like you're on the start line of an early spring classic. I'm such euro-trash it's unbelievable. Self-embrocation is illegal in some states...