Great weather for a ride today.

I was just about to head out for a ride alone, when Will called and asked what I was doing. I told him I was just about to head out for a ride & he asked if I wanted to join him and his friend Tim. I told him of course and he said to meet them at his house. My legs were a bit tight at the start of the ride, but by the time I met them at his house, they were feeling pretty good. We headed out towards Old Perry Rd, and I was feeling good. We took turns up front breaking the wind. We headed out to Hunt Rd and then hit Sandefur Rd. I like riding down that road, not much traffic, and smooth pavement. We hit a section of the road that has a slight downhill to it & Tim just took off. I tried to catch him, but couldn't close the gap even at 31 mph. I later found out that Tim is a Cat 3 racer, so that might explain things just a bit. We then headed down Bear Branch Rd and when we hit the first section that had a rise to it, Tim took off again, I did my best, but there was just no way I was going to stay with him. He slowed at the top to let me catch him, then we both waited for Will to catch up with us. On the next section that had a rise to it, Will tried going away, but Tim just made catching him look so easy. We then took 247 to Piney Grove, where I took a good steady long pull. The final section of the ride was down Old Perry Rd again, only in the opposite direction from earlier in the ride. There is a section of road that Will likes to attack on, & today was no different. I was behind him and I knew he was going to try something, the only thing was I didn't know when he was going to go. Sure enough, he tried getting away on the last climb as he usually does, but Tim & I were having none of it. Tim caught him first, then I did. He said it sucked doing about 21 mph up that hill and being dropped none the less. We took a quick break & chatted for a bit before splitting up and heading back to our respective homes. All in all I did 35 miles with an average speed of 19.62 mph by the time I got back home. I had a great ride with some great company. Stay tuned for more adventures.......

Catch up time

I think it's about time to catch up and post my adventures from over the weekend. I was going to do the Peach Peloton ride this past Saturday, but situations dictated a change of plans. I had to help a friend out of a situation so I didn't get to participate. I really enjoy doing the rides, no matter how much I suffer on them. It's a great group of guys that show up for the rides and they are a great bunch of racers too. I went out solo on Saturday afternoon and did a 40 mile ride that I really enjoy doing. I rode out to the Perry Parkway and pushed the pace on that part of the route. I came back home on Lake Joy Rd. My average speed was 19.48 mph for the entire ride. My legs felt good the entire ride. On Sunday I rode with my friend Will. He has a new Cannondale & he hadn't seen my new Trek, so we got a good look at each other's new toy. We headed out down Old Perry Rd, then headed out down Moody and then Sandefur Rd to Lake Joy. We took that road into Perry then headed out towards the Perdue plant, then ended up riding down Piney Grove Rd to Old Perry Rd. It was a good ride with a good friend. Today was just a steady tempo ride. I did 2 hours still trying to break in the new saddle. I kept the tempo as steady as I could and kept it in the small ring the entire ride. I rode down the Perry Parkway and then headed back Lake Joy, my legs felt pretty good the entire ride. It's just going to take time to get used to the new saddle. The new bike is working great, comfortable and stable for me so far. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Breaking in a new toy.

A couple of weeks ago I went on the Peach Peloton ride and noticed that shifting from the big ring to the small ring was intermittent. I took it to The Bike Store & had Charles look at it. I was just thinking that the cable was loose and just needed to be adjusted. I found out that I was wrong. The guide on the frame was stripping out. Charles did what he could to fix the problem, but I didn't know what the result would be. I went for a ride on Monday & found out that once I shifted to the big ring, the only way to get it back on the small ring was to unclip my right foot from the pedal and push the derailleur back to the small ring. I asked Charles to see if he knew anyone who had a 54 cm frame that I could borrow until I could afford a new one. He called back a bit later in the evening and told me about a 2008 Trek 1.2 and asked if I would be interested in it. I asked him to let me know what the cost would be and how we would work it out. We came to an agreement and I went to the shop to swap out the parts from the Orbea to the Trek. I went up to Epic to make sure the fit was correct and Mike worked his magic once more. Yesterday was the first ride. I did the Peach Peloton ride from Howard Middle School. We started together then broke up into 3 groups to practice rotation for a bit. The road we used to practice the first set of rotations was mainly uphill and the bike worked great. The frame was stable and responded great. We regrouped and rode 2 abreast until we hit Hwy 42. That was the next section of rotation practice. Chad let me know that I might want to hang back and hang in. I'm glad I listened to him, as the pace was quite fast. I don't think it dropped below 20 mph the entire time down 42. The last hour of the ride we had a tailwind and it felt good, the pace was pretty fast, but I was able to hang with the group. My legs were certainly feeling it close to the end of the ride. All in all we did 66.96 miles and I had an average speed of 19.86 mph. Today I went on a steady effort ride with Eddy. My legs were a bit sore from yesterday, but I really wanted to get more of a feel for the new frame. I just followed Eddy and let him dictate the pace. On some sections of the ride, we were riding what seemed like an easy pace and at other times it felt as if we were hammering. We rode out to Perry and used the Perry Parkway for a good section of the ride. I really like riding the parkway, it's just nothing but rollers, but it will give you a good workout. The Trek worked flawlessly, just need to work on the motor for it now. I'm very happy with the frame, it may be called an entry level frame, but it seems stiff enough for me and stable enough at higher speeds for me. I just need to break in the new saddle and that will only come with getting on the bike. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more adventures....

Night riding

On Wednesday night I had done my workout with my Bowflex and I really wanted to get on the bike. I had two choices, one was to put the road bike on the trainer and ride that way, the other was to take the commuting bike and ride outdoors. I didn't have lights on the road bike & really didn't feel like riding the trainer as of yet. I know I'll be doing plenty of that here in the near future, so I decided to take the commuting bike out on a short route that I use for my recovery rides. It was certainly different riding that route at night. I heard things I never noticed during the day. I guess I was paying more attention to my surroundings seeing as I couldn't see as well. I have to admit it was fun riding that route in the dark. I had a good ride and just might try it again just to break up the monotony of riding a trainer all winter long. I'm up at my folks house, but I did bring my bike and I'm hoping to get some riding in this weekend, just long, steady, miles to build up for next season. Stay tuned for more.....

Recovery Ride

Today was a great day for a recovery ride. I didn't get to do one yesterday due to other obligations, so today was recovery day. The weather was great, didn't need any arm or knee warmers at all by the time I got to get to ride. I headed out and decided to keep it in the small ring the entire ride. I headed down towards Perry to ride the parkway. The traffic was minimal and I had the wind at my back going down the parkway. I just kept a comfortable cadence, not hammering it at all. I'm trying to stick with a plan to do some proper recovery rides and not give into the temptation to ride hard if my legs feel good when I'm scheduled for a recovery ride. There were only a couple of bad things about today's ride. The first was on the return trip I got stuck at a construction zone for quite some time while they cleaned up gravel on the road. The other bad thing was that I had a headwind most of the way back home. I ended up doing 42 miles today & my legs felt better today. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Peach Peloton Ride #1

Today was the first Peach Peloton ride of this year. The temperature at the beginning of the ride was under 40 degress, so I was having a hard time deciding what to wear. I knew it was going to warm up during the ride, so I just had arm & knee warmers, my jersey, a base shirt, shorts, vest and my Slipstream shoe covers. It turned out that I wore just enough for the entire ride. We had over 20 people show up for the first ride, which was great. At the start we were told that it would be a social pace on the ride. There was no attack zones at all on this ride. The pace was nice and comfortable for everyone. The route was rolling hills with a few decent climbs on it. My legs felt good the entire ride, I was able to keep up a good cadence throughout the ride. I was only able to ride once this week, so I'm very happy that my legs felt as good as they did on the ride. I stayed towards the front of the group, taking my turn up front. On the way back to the starting point, I had a difficult time shifting my front derailluer from the big ring back to the small ring, but luckily I was able to shift to the small ring just before the last two climbs. All in all we did 54 miles in just under 3 hours, great start to the Peach Peloton series. I'm going to start my off-season program on Monday & I'm going to stick with it better this year than I did last year.

Recovery ride

Today I went on a recovery ride with Eddie. I really enjoy riding with Eddie cause he's been racing for quite some time & I learn something new each time I ride with him. We rode for a bit over 2 hours today, using the Perry Parkway on the ride. I really like riding that road. It's nothing but rollers, but it gives me a good workout. We talked about what our plans were for the coming winter rides. I told Eddie that I was going to try to make every Peach Peloton ride that I can this winter. I really enjoyed doing them last winter. It's a great training ride they have set up over there. I did suffer on quite a few of the rides, but it did help me get stronger. One thing I really have to learn is to take it easy on some of my rides. Eddie even told me that I need to do the same thing. He said that by reading my blog here that I have a very bad habit of riding the same way on every ride. I totally agree with him. I have to force myself, no matter how good my legs feel, that if I'm on a recovery day, to take it easy on the bike. He also gave me a hint to help me lose some weight, which I'm going to give a try. All in all it was a very nice ride with one great rider. Stay tuned for more......

Group Ride

Today was the usual group ride. I got home from work, changed clothes, and headed out. I met everyone on the road. Chip told me there were quite a few women in the group and they were going to do the "C" route and take it easy. I told him that was fine with me. My legs were a bit sore after yesterdays ride & core workout. We were heading down Lakeview, when one of the ladies seemed to be feeling a bit froggy. I caught up to her and just rode behind her for a bit. We hit Houser's Mill Rd, & I asked if she wanted to wait for the others. She said that this was going to be her last ride for a couple of weeks and wanted to have a good ride. I led her up the hills and Tommy caught up to us. We waited for a bit at the intersection of the 247 connector and 49. She headed ahead on her own. When the others met up with us, I headed out and Tommy was right behind me. When we hit 49, I saw her ahead & was determined to catch her. It took me longer than I wanted it to, but I ended up catching her & we rode in together until Tharpe Rd. Tommy & her headed back to The Bike Store and I headed home to do my core workout and my stretching. My legs actually felt pretty good up the climbs, considering they felt sore all day long. I'll probably have to ride the trainer the next couple of days, the forecast calls for rain. All in all it was a good ride.

Back on the road

Today was the first day I've been on the bike in 3 days. This weekend was busy with things that kept me from riding. My legs definately felt like they haven't been riding for a few days. I rode out to the Perry Parkway and my legs felt okay, but nothing great. I just kept it in the small ring & kept up a higher cadence. I just couldn't keep up the speed I wanted to, but my legs will come back around soon enough. I just have to get back on the road bike & get back into getting ready for the offseason. That's about all I have for now, sorry it's such a short post, but really don't have much to say. Stay tuned for more......

Weekend Report

Sorry I didn't post much last week, but I really didn't ride the road bike until Saturday. I rode my commuter bike to & from work and did other things in the evenings. On Saturday I rode to the Perry Welcome Center for the usual group ride. I got there just before 8 am, but no one was there at all. I waited for about 10 mintues, then just headed out on my own. I rode down the Perry Parkway to Boutwell Rd, then past the Perdue plant, then down 247 to 96 then home. I was in the big ring the last part of the ride & the legs felt good. Today I went out & started doing the Sunday route, but I changed it up a bit. I took 341 all the way through Perry, then went past the Perdue plant, then onto 247, then Bear Branch Rd, to Houston Lake Rd home. My legs felt pretty good the entire ride. I'm hoping to get more riding in this week, the weather is starting to get cooler again & I love riding in cooler weather. That's about all I have for now, thanks for reading.

Trying something different

Today I did something I haven't done in quite a long time, I went mountain biking. I borrowed a demo Gary Fisher Caliber full suspension 29er from The Bike Store here in Warner Robins. I rode the trails at L. H. Thompson. I started out quite cautiously, not know what to expect riding the dirt. I can say one thing, riding a mt. bike takes a lot more upper body strength than riding a road bike. My arms & shoulders definately got a workout riding the trails. I didn't do too bad on the first lap, I only hit the dirt one time. I decided to try a second lap, and I guess I got a bit on the cocky side. I learned the hard way never get too cocky on the trails. They have a way of biting you when you least expect it. During the second lap I hit the dirt twice and brushed up against a tree. Needless to say, I'm a bit sore, but I have to admit, I had a good time riding the trails. I might have to look into getting a mt. bike in the future and giving some races a try. Later in the afternoon, I took the road bike out to do a recovery ride. My right knee was a bit sore from hitting the stem when I went down one time on the dirt, but after doing about a 17 mile easy spin ride, it feels much better now. I told Charles I might have to borrow the other demo mt. bike they have to compare a 29er and one with 26" wheels. All in all it was a fun day and definately a learing experience.

Saturday Jordan Hill Loop Ride

Today I went up to Epic Bikes and rode the Jordan Hill loop. I hadn't rode that loop for over a month. The usual group was there and we took off just as it was getting brighter outside. We started out as usual, a brisk pace for me before my legs warmed up, but after a bit they started to come around. Once we hit Hillview Rd, my legs started to feel the climbing. I did my best to stay with the group, but I dropped back a bit. I was able to catch up on the flatter parts of the road. We hit Jordan Hill Rd and my legs hurt going up the climb. I was happy that at least my speed didn't drop into single digits like it did the last time I climbed it. We regrouped at the top of the hill and just rode a paceline the rest of the way back to the shop. Tim showed us the new location of Epic Bikes. The new location is bigger than the current shop and what Tim told us the plans for the new shop are going to be, it's going to look awesome. He's planning on having the new location open on Feb. 3rd of 2009. It was great to ride with those guys again & I hope to be able to get up there and ride again soon.

Back online

I finally got my computer fixed. Thanks so much to my friend Darren. You are the man!!!!! I did a short ride in the big ring yesterday seeing as I had been off the bike for the past 6 days due to other obligations. My legs actually felt pretty good during the ride, the only downside was that my back did start to get a bit sore. I'll just have to get back with the strecthing program from Cyclo-Zen. I'm looking foward to doing a ride in McDonough this October. It's called Friends Helping Friends Century. It's sometime late in October. I guess with the weather getting a bit cooler, it's time to get more miles in the legs & start getting ready for the Peach Peleton rides coming up in a couple of months. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated with my adventures.....

Storck Demo Ride & Cherokee County Road Race Report

On Tuesday of this past week, The Bike Store in Warner Robins, had a Storck bicycle demo. I saw the sign about a week before & had Charles reserve a bike for me. I rode there straight from work so I could get set up on the bike. Most everyone who was riding a demo bike was planning on doing the usual Tuesday route. I got to the store & was given an Absolutist 0.9 with SRAM Red component group. I was given a quick tutorial on how SRAM Red works & it was very easy to get used to shifting with it. Once on the road I noticed how stiff this bike is, but it was comfortable also. We hit the hills on Lakeview & that's when I noticed how light & how very stiff this bike was. I climbed up the hills it seems quicker on this bike than I do on my Orbea. Once we hit the flatter parts of the ride, this bike is very capable of taking whatever I could hammer on the pedals. I just wish I could afford one seeing as the bike I was riding would cost me about $6500. All in all it's a great bike & it was nice to ride what seems like pro level bike at least once in my life.
On Saturday I was up in Cherokee County for the Cherokee County Road Race. I was in the Cat 5 class. There were about 35 racers in our class. The course profile looked like it was going to be a bit of a hilly route & it certainly lived up to that. I was with the pack when the transmitter for my cyclocomputer became loose & dropped to the bottom of my front fork. I was just hoping that it wouldn't go into the spokes & cause a crash. We were going through this development passing a roundabout when the road went up a bit on the steep side & with some curves thrown in for those of us who are a bit on the weight challenged going up a hill. I lost the pack on that hill & did my best to catch up but no such luck. I was starting to feel my back getting sore, & I almost didn't do the second lap, but I decided that I was going to finish this race no matter what. I did feel a bit better on the second lap and ended up 27th overall. All in all I survived another race and didn't finish last. I'll have to see what other races are coming up in the next month to see if I want to do any more.

Legs coming back around

Last week was a good week of training for me. My legs are starting to come back around. Last Monday I did the route the bike club in town does for one of their group rides, only I did it backwards this time. I'll tell you it's tough doing it in reverse. My legs felt good the entire ride & the climbs that you usually would do early in the ride are a challenge after over an hour in the saddle. I did manage to average about 19.5 mph for 46 miles so I really can't complain. On Tuesday I rode the group ride. I was able to stay with the group the entire ride & even tried some attacks. We all rode hard that day even in the heat & it was a good feeling to be able to stay with the fast group. The rest of the week was pretty much just steady riding. On Saturday I did a ride with Will. It's been some time since he's been able to ride, so we just kept a steady pace for most of the ride. On one part of the ride I decided to put the hammer down to see what would happen. I was able to keep a steady pace of over 27 mph for a good distance. Will was doing all he could just to stay on my wheel. I decided to slow things down for the rest of the ride. Going down Bear Branch Rd, it seems that Will's shifter broke. His bike was stuck on the 12 cog in the rear. The only way he could change gears was to pull on the cable & hold it there, not the most effective way to ride. I rode back to his house with him to make sure nothing else happened. All in all it was a good ride and a great time to spend with a friend. I did an early recovery ride on Sunday morning before church. My legs felt quite good. I was surprised at how they felt. I'm planning on doing a race near Canton, Ga. this weekned. I'll post a race report if I get to race.

Georgia Games Races

Last weekend was the Georgia Games. On Saturday was the road race. The course was described as gently rolling hills, but I think that was an understatement. There didn't seem to be a flat section on the course at all. I felt like I was either going up or down the entire race. The Cat 5 race was said to be 35 miles, 2 laps of the course. I was with the pack the first part of the first lap and when we hit the turn around point, the peleton was stretched out. I was towards the back of the peleton, and tried my best to catch them. I was doing 35+ mph trying to catch them with no luck. My main goal was to stay with the pack & seeing as that wasn't going to happen, I just wanted to finish. I settled into my own rhythym and caught a rider from the MACC club in Atlanta. We worked together very well, each of us taking turns up front. We caught another rider from his club and told him to catch on, but he couldn't stay with us. We just kept up our pace, working well together. We did catch another rider on the second lap just before the turn and he joined us. He didn't want to seem to take any turns up front, don't know if he was that tired or just tagging along until the finish, waiting to pounce and leave us. The other rider with me noticed this also & we made this third rider take some pulls in the front. On the back part of the last lap, we caught a rider from the University of TN. He joined us for a bit then on the second to last climb, he went off the front. The finish was an uphill one & he wasn't that far ahead of us as we headed towards the finish line. I decided to give it a go & see if I could catch him. I figured the worst I could do was not catch him & get passed by the other riders with me. I surprised myself and I think I really surprised the UT rider, because he didn't have any kind of reaction to me when I passed him. The rider from MACC gave it a go with me in a sprint, but I was able to hold him off at the line. I know I was well down in the placings, but it felt good to race again. On Sunday was the criterium. Last year it poured the entire race. I woke up that morning to dry weather. Great I thought, no rain this year. I get to the venue, register, and start warming up when guess what started to happen? If you guessed rain, your a winner!!!!! Before the race started I was already soaked, but I was ok with that. Once the race started, it was fast from the get go. It was much faster than the pace last year. I was shelled off the back of the pack before the first lap was over with. I was joined by 3 other riders & we worked well together on each lap, each of us taking a pull up front. We were coming towards the start finish line when I noticed my rear wheel feeling a bit soft. I was hoping to use the free lap after changing the wheel, but when I looked at the lap counter it said 2 laps to go, so no free lap, my race was done. All in all I had a good weekend racing, it felt good to get in a peleton & give it a go. I'm looking foward to my next race.

Work, sickness, & back problems

I haven't been able to post much here lately because I haven't really been able to ride. I was up in Atlanta for work most of May & I was on night shift. It's hard to get used to sleeping during the daylight when you're not used to it. I would only get about 4 hours of sleep after work, then doze off & on until time to leave for work. On my time off, the hotel I was staying at really didn't have very many safe roads to ride on. I've ridden on roads with traffic lots of times, but the drivers in Atlanta are some of the rudest drivers I've ever met. They're just as rude when I'm in my car as when riding my bike. Needless to say I wasn't able to get much riding done up there. Once I got back home, I came down with some sort of bug & was extremely tired & congested most of the time. I took the first week back home off the bike just to recover. I think I caught the bug was because I was so worn down by lack of sleep up in Atlanta. Once I recovered from the bug I started back on the bike, but now I'm having problems with my back being very sore. I just can't seem to win for losing here lately & I'm getting frustrated with not being able to do much in the way of any kind of training. I'm hoping this coming week will be much better for my training. I guess I'm going to have to just suck it up & deal with my back for the time being. I'm going to try some stretching routines before & after my rides to see if that might have any kind of help getting my back to quit bothering me. That's all I have to say for now, come back & see what happens in my adventures on my bike.

Life & other things

I know it's been quite a long time since my last post & I'm sorry. I am up in Atlanta for the summer doing mods on aircraft for work. The only thing bad about that is that I'm on night shift & I'm having a hard time getting a routine set up for training working that shift. Right now I'm on a short vacation visiting family & old friends. I brought the road bike with me to get some rides in, but I haven't gotten to ride as much as I would have liked to. I rode last week in Oklahoma & it was a bit hillier than I thought it was. If the terrain wasn't enough, the wind was worse. I've heard about the wind, but it's worse than the wind back home. My legs were certainly feeling it after riding against that wind. I'm in Arkansas right now visiting some old friends of mine & was able to get out yesterday & today. I'm never going to complain about the back roads in Georgia again after riding some of the farm roads in Missouri yesterday evening. They are the worst roads I have ever ridden on. I felt totally beat up after only about 22 miles on them. I was planning on going farther, but weather was moving in & I really didn't want to get caught out in it with no where to go. Today I went out & rode around on a former Air Force Base near where my friends live. The wind today was about as bad as the wind in Oklahoma, but I rode out into it for about 45 minutes then turned around & headed back. The trip back was much more enjoyable. I gave it a good hard effort for a bit,then just put it in cruise mode for the rest of the ride. I ended up doing about 34 miles today. I'm driving home tomorrow then going to go for easy rides the next two days. I'm hoping to do the Georgia State Championship Road Race this Sunday. I'll let everyone know how things go. Stay tuned for more updates.....

Computer down, that's why no posts lately

I'm sorry for not posting here lately, but my computer is messed up somehow. I can't seem to get it to register my log in when I turn it on. Well, I've been riding as much as possible here lately. I've done the group rides here with the local club the past few weeks. It's been fun. A couple of Mondays ago, I rode down the the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for an easy ride. I had ridden to & from work, so I was looking foward to taking it kind of easy. I met Steve, his wife, & another couple there. Kim & her husband Jim showed up & said that they weren't going to ride as fast as I was. I told Kim that I was there to do an easy ride, so not to worry. Kim, Jim, Steve, & I headed out on the Perry Parkway towards Hayneville. Kim & Jim were doing over 20 mph at the beginning of the ride. I looked at Steve & asked if I had heard things that they said they weren't going to ride fast. He thought the same thing. I then got to the front & slowed the pace down a bit. I told them that the only time I was going to go hard was climbing up the hill to Hayneville. We kept the pace about 18 mph till the hill. I then proceeded to ride up the hill hard. I never had the speed drop below 17.5 mph up the climb. I'm definately stronger this year. We then just did the B loop. They did the extra horseshoe, but I still had to ride home & told them to have a good time. All in all I did 50 more miles on top of the commute to & from work that day. I did intervals the next day & my legs certainly were feeling it after all was said & done. I was only able to do 5 sets, but they still hurt. That Wednesday was a pyramid workout, & my legs felt even worse than after the interval workout. Thankfully the rest of the week was all easy rides. The following week I decided to do the local group rides. I went on the Tuesday ride & after the first climb, Jesse was with me & told me we had a gap on the other riders. He asked me what I wanted to do & I replied "Make them earn it" & proceeded to keep a steady pace from there on. I caught the earlier group not too long after the silo & was never caught after that. Wednesday was a tempo ride & ended up doing about 2 hours on the bike. I did the Thursday group ride. On the hill into Hayneville I got a gap on the rest of the group & just went with it. I saw them getting closer in Elko, but once I turned on Elko Rd, I had a tailwind & was able to pick the pace up. I saw a rider up ahead of me & it turned out to be Eddie. We hooked up on the horseshoe part of the ride, he pulled me the rest of the way, but we never were caught. My legs were really feeling it after that ride. I took Friday off to recover. This past Saturday, Shane & I drove up to Cumming to pre-ride the race route for May 10th. We got up there & it was raining. We drove the route once to get an idea what it's going to be like. The beginning of the route is going to be tough. It's all up & down. The rest of the route isn't anything I haven't seen before. We drove back to the start & were going to ride the route when it started raining again. We drove the route one more time to familarize ourselves with it. Yesterday I did a tempo ride to Perry & back. My legs felt good the entire route. Today was intervals. I did 6 sets of 5 x 5's & my legs are certainly feeling it. I'm glad I get to take it easy the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend. I'm going to give it my best shot & we'll just let the chips fall where they may. Stay tuned for a race report next week.....

I know it's been a while since last post.

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks since my last post here. My computer decided it doesn't like me much anymore & doesn't want to work right. I'm going to have to get it looked at here sometime soon. Since my last post, I've just been doing my training that Mike has so graciously provided me. I've done hill repeats, my 5 x 5 intervals, only this time with another twist. Once I have 2 minutes left in the hard 5 minutes, I'm to increase the intensity, then do that again with 1 minute left, & finally give it everything I have the final 30 seconds. I'm telling you, that is one hard workout. I did that last Tuesday & my legs were shot after about 5 sets, the only problem was that I still had about 15 miles to ride before I was home. Needless to say, those last 15 miles were at a recovery pace. Last Wednesday was a recovery ride & boy it was very welcome. On Thursday I took a rest day then did mock sprints on that Friday. I was going to go on the group ride last Saturday, but Mike called me just before I left to tell me not to waste my time seeing as it was raining up in McDonough. I then decided to head to the Perry Welcome Center to see if anyone was going to show up for a ride there, but then it started raining there also. I just decided that it was not meant for me to ride that day. Last Sunday afternoon I headed out & ran into my friend Eddie & joined him for about a 45 mile ride. We put some hard efforts in & my legs felt good. This past Monday was a high tempo ride which was done on the trainer due to rain. I rode for about 90 minutes. On Tuesday, it was the same interval workout as the week before, but this time I stayed closer to home. My legs still hurt after the workout. Yesterday was a pyramid workout, starting out with a 15 minute warm-up then 1 mintue hard, 1 minute easy, increasing the hard & easy efforts by 1 minute till I hit 6 minutes. After a 6 minute rest it was another 6 minutes hard, but the rest periods on the way back down were a minute shorter. I'm telling you, my legs were shot after that workout & are sore today. I'm planning on going for an easy ride today & keeping it on the small ring. I'm hoping for good weather this weekend & doing the group ride on Saturday. Stay tuned for further reports on my suffering......