The Ice Man Cometh

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. Reader warning: that's because nothing interesting has happened. Nah, but I finished up my semester at school, had some crazy times with finals, and in the mess of all this stress gained a new appreciation for indoor training. It's just so much more time efficient to hop on the indoor trainer and crank out a quick workout then to ride outside. Still, if I lived in Wisconsin or somewhere I had to ride indoors three months of the year I'd probably go insane. I spent some quality time with Graeme Street from Cyclo-Club. They were recommended to me by my coach Josh Liberles and have a vast store of indoor trainer workout videos as well as core and flexibility work. They even have some P90X style training plans called Cyclo90 for you unlucky sons-of-bitches who do live in Wisconsin that are basically all inclusive 90 day training plans based around videos of Graeme Street talking you through workouts. 

So, I've been doing some relaxing, drinking some delicious winter beers, and logging plenty of base training miles. Basically, preparing for my trip abroad and taking some much needed relaxation time. The riding has been good at times, tough at others. This time of year it can be a challenge to get your ass out the door and even once your riding it can be tough to crank up the intensity when it's pouring rain and cold. But it's all part of what it means to be a cyclist. Sure there are summer century and fair weather riders, but the Spring races demand us to throw on a rain coat and brave the cold. It's this aptitude for making ourselves uncomfortable on a daily basis that make us better people in addition to better cyclists. How many times in life do we have to "ride in the rain?" To buckle down and harden up and grind through with something even when we would rather warm are toes by the fire with a nice hot tody? But after a three hours of hard riding in the rain, you will appreciate that warm fire and hot tody way more then the other guy, I guarantee it. It's the contrasts that give life pizzazz. The dark spots that make the lights pop. So, to beat the winter blues and make your smile brighter, give yourself a reason to be happy. Make yourself suffer.

Kyle

For further great writing on these subjects, look here and here. Gotta love the Velominati.