I was proud of myself for getting up early to do some work on Wednesday so that I could get out for a ride before it got too warm and windy. Then just as I was filling my bottles I could hear the distant sound of thunder. Shit.
Archive | Cycling
A Steady Whirlwind
The past few days were a steady whirlwind of driving, soccer, more driving, visiting family, and more driving. Finally around 2 PM Monday my world calmed down, and around 4 PM the first of many beers were cracked as I mentally decompressed from it all.
Untroubled Troublesomeness
As mentioned in the last post, I had been dealing with some off and on again swelling in my left calf since last Friday. Due to my history of DVTs this was very troublesome of course. Despite taking a blood thinner, swelling and slight pain mean one thing to me–another f*cking blood clot. I was hopeful that I just aggravated a muscle during my Memorial Day dirt fest ride, but since it remained for a few days with that familiar tightness, I finally broke down and went to the emergency room.
Troubling
These days, it seems that I find myself typing things about busy schedules, traveling around Michigan for soccer, and a subsequent lack of quality riding more and more. This post is no different. Last week I got out for a few rides, including one hell of a fun mountain bike ride at MMCC, but then the weekend came and that meant two days of 5:30 AM wakeups, driving, spectating, cheering for, and photographing B’s soccer games. Not going to complain about that, that’s all great stuff, especially since I watched B’s U13 team make it the whole way to the Michigan State Cup U13 D2 Finals on Sunday. They lost 4-3, but to make it that far was a hell of an accomplishment, and B had excellent games in both the Semifinal and Final playing as a winger and a right back at times.
A Better One
Wednesday’s ride left me feeling like spent dog shit, and on Thursday there was a large part of my even larger body that wanted to say “f*ck it,” and do anything at all that didn’t involve me riding my bike into a steady headwind on a dirt road.
Contrasts
After Monday’s Memorial Day Singletrack Extravaganza at MMCC, Tuesday was spent catching up on stuff I neglected while away over the tournament weekend and the holiday spent riding.
The In Between
It was nearly a full week since I last rode my bike. The break was not planned, nor was it enjoyed. It was five days of rain, high winds, cool November-like temps, a busy travel soccer schedule with B, and a nice bout of “who gives a f*ck?” ennui. However, per usual, just when I thought that I might never actually ride my bike again, I found myself rolling out from the cul-de-sac onto the roads of rural Michigan.
Squeezed & Breezed
I really didn’t expect to get a ride in on Wednesday. There were a ton of things I needed to do that included everything from getting to B’s early morning academic awards ceremony (Honor Roll!), a mid-day school enrollment meeting, and multiple other tasks and errands before finally getting B to his carpool for the TOPSoccer Program gig he’s helping with, and eventually his own team’s practice. Somehow between all that I managed to get a quick Better Than Trainer Ride® in.
Critters & Crap
We got some pretty heavy thunderstorms overnight and into early Tuesday morning, because of that I planned on a 30-ish mile paved ride to avoid any potential quagmires on the dirt roads.
Dust Bunnies
After two days of 30+ mile rides, I was tempted to take a day off, and get some actual work done on Thursday, but the blue sky and perfect spring temps lured me out onto the dirt roads like a seductive temptress. At least for a little bit.