Yesterday was all about getting some longish Weekday Ride road miles in. Today was all about doing an easy ride out on the dirt roads for an hour and a half in the wind and seeing how the Clement X’Plor USH 700 x 35 tires I bought WAY back in January, and finally installed this week, rolled.
It took two days, but I was finally able to get out on the bike for a road ride. It has also taken what seems like a lifetime to get out on the road and not have multiple layers of clothing on. Not to jinx it, but looking at the long-range forecast, it seems like spring and/or summer may have finally sprung for good here in Michiganderburgh.
Ride-wise, the weekend was filled with subparness. Saturday’s ride was OK, but sadly it ended early when I got chased by an icy cold rain storm at MMCC . My plan for Sunday was to spend a couple hours at Hanson Hills riding singletrack in the yet to turn green woods of north central Michigan, which I did, it just that it didn’t feel all that great.
Wow, the Michigan weather has been even more psycho this spring than usual and today was no exception.
Ride Part I, the part where I reckon I was faster than last week for no reason whatsoever.
Last week I took my road bike out for the first time in 2014. I had written that I felt swell during the 41 mile ride but was sort of pissed to come home and check my files (which serve no real purposed to a schlep like me) and see that I was over ten minutes slower than my best effort last year. Thankfully things got a tad better today, even with a slightly gimpy-ish neck and back.
You may or may not (probably not) remember my post a while back on the isolati. If you don’t remember (and you probably don’t) I will quote the post…
…earlier this week as I continued to delve further into the book Maglia Rosa, I stumbled upon a word that was used in the early days of the Giro to describe the amateur racers, who didn’t ride for a team, just for themselves, room and board… they were called the isolati.
I was drawn to this concept for some unknown reason. Whooooo, wait a good-God-damn-minute. Fuck that, that’s a lie. I was drawn to it because the isolati were badasses. They were considered unpaid pariahs of the peloton. The only racers below them was the aspiranti (which I just MIGHT be drawn to even more and will be featured on a future jersey! Ha!)
Finally, correction, FINAL FUCKING-LY, a spring day to ride in. Today was the 2nd (?), maybe 3rd ride, of 2014 in just bibs and a jersey. It was bliss, but there’s more (there’s always more)…
I don’t do much pure road riding anymore and I really have only one or two paved loops, but I figured it was about time to get my road bike off the trainer and ready to roll.
To say that today’s 2.5 hour ride on gravel and dirt roads was better than Saturday’s 35 minute cluster-fornication would be an understatement. Even having to trail behind The Keeper of The Gravel for 5 minutes while they graded some fresh gravel, didn’t damper the joy of FINALLY getting out on the bike for a ride after a week of bad luck, a busy family schedule and suck weather.
Today’s short ride was a long time coming. Yikes! I hadn’t been on the bike since last Saturday’s Rust Shaker XC race. A combination of windy, cold, rainy, vile weather, B-Man’s soccer, strength training in the gym and general malaise (e.g.. laying in bed praying for the end of my days) from dealing with my continued unemployment and lack of societal contribution got in the way. Hey, this is what separates the Pros, neo-Pros, fast peeps and slow, depressive fat fucktards like me.