MINI-TRAINING CAMP WEEK

...as some of you know i am in-between jobs right now, unsure as to what my previous/current employer would like me to do and my new employment does not begin until april. so what's a cycling addict to do in such nebulus circumstances - i know - ride! the weather here this week is suppose to be in the low-mid single digits with sun and cloud - pretty much perfect spring riding weather for this part of the world. so - since i have this forum to write in and i have not had much to write about lately i have decided to write about the week of riding to come.

day 1 - bragg creek 80km

...today was the first day in all the time i have lived here (9 yrs) that i was able to ride west of the city with NO WIND whatsoever all day. i know, i know - its sounds like blarney, but its true! it did not warm up to the temperature they were predicting (+9) and stayed pretty cold for the whole ride - but NO WIND. i'll take that. before i left town i popped into the carwash to rinse off my rig from the previous slopfest on saturday and as the temp. was below freezing all of my cables froze and i had to ride all the way out to the springbank arena in 53x19 until the temp. went above zero. no big deal as there was NO WIND! from that point on the ride was uneventful with the cup of "snakebite" blend coffee in bragg creek as the hi-lite of the ride. i was able to rip the ride off in under 3hrs which is pretty good for this time of year. after that i went for a massage - which paula the therapist insured was painful, yet heavenly at the same time. this old body of mine is complaining a little bit right now so i am going back in on thursday for another hour of torture on the massage table. i am as yet unsure what ride to do tomorrow - so i will sleep on it and post again how it went.

day 2 - cochrane loop, extended 90km

the sun came out early this morning thus the temperature reached its high of +9 around noon. i decided that cochrane was in order as its been awhile since i last rode it and the wind seemed ready to cooperate - aka - no blowing too strong. off i went...all good. the legs felt good, the tunes in my radio were fresh and pumping and i was able to get out to cochrane and back in just under 3hrs. pretty good i think. as i sit here typing my quads are thumping in time to my heartbeat so i think tomorrow will be a shorter day - we'll see - its suppose to be +13 tomorrow. on the way back from cochrane some old fella caught up to me and proceeded to guilt me into sprinting with him for signs and hill rises - causing whatever reminants of energy that were left to be burned off rapidly resulting in the now thumping quads and slight crampy feelings i'm getting.

thanks old guy - appreciate it - not.

day 3 - 17th ave - 3km

the sun came out today and brought with it the warmest afternoon yet this year - which means only one thing - better head down to the ship&anchor to soak it up - which is exactly what i did. what an afternoon - a few pints, lots of eye-candy strolling along 17th, some fine pubgrub and lots of laughs to be had. i am glad i took the day off as my legs are kinda fried from the rides this week. back to the grind tomorrow...

day 4 - another off day

i awoke today to incredibly sore legs and a complete lack of motivation to do anything at all. i think i must still have some of the sickness/antibiotics from a few weeks back cruising around in my system cuz - boy - i feels like shit yo! i have decided that today i will tackle some life-maintenance issues and run some errands so as to not write the entire day off. hopefully tomorrow i will feel a little bit better - enough to ride at the very least. till then...

day 5 - inner city - 2hrs

i must thank keech for emailling that he was riding today. the wind was hellish and i probably would not have gone out if it were not for him - thx buddy! so, we left from here with the intention of riding west until we couldnt take the wind anymore - however - we didnt even make the outskirts of the city before the plan was changed. the wind was gusting like mad so we elected to do a little inner-city stuff comprised of a couple laps in the north glenmore area, south calgary, mission, DT, and back to my place on the pathway. it was a great ride, nice and warm when you werent being blown off your bike, good chat with jon-o and generally happy motorists as well. i am hoping to get out this weekend at least once but i am having difficulty finding a sitter for 'dre. anybody have a good babysitter they want to share?

as an aside -and kinda a bummer as well - i had to cancel my planned trip to california as work commitments have gotten the better of my psyche and forced me to stay here and keep pounding the pavement for LG> to the bitter end...oh well...everything happens for a reason, right?