In a post earlier this month I mentioned how happy I was to be back on skinny (40c) tires and off of the Farley for a while. That time off of the Farley lasted about two weeks. It’s not that I found myself longing to ride slow, soft, heavy, four-inch tires on dry dirt roads or anything, but with Saturday’s ride time temps hovering around 30˚ I figured I might as well roll fat and slow, work harder and thus stay warmer.
While much of the north-east is digging out from winter storm Scunthorpe or whatever this one’s called, we here in central Michiganderburgh have been snowless for roughly a week. It’s been cold, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s not been horrible and the sun has been out and that almost always makes moods better. While that makes for tolerable living, it also makes for a daily freeze thaw cycle that leaves the less traveled dirt roads glistening with ice, rutted snow and a few hoof prints.
Anyone who has ever come within three feet of me or this blog knows that I hate winter. I’m not happy about it, but there’s nothing I can do about it, so I have learned to embrace it. However, that embrace is sort of like when you’re thirteen and one of your grandmother’s buxom friends decides that she wants, nay, NEEDS a hug upon meeting you. You’re not happy about it, but at some point during the embrace your realize that despite the woman’s advanced years, caked on makeup, wrinkles, eye watering perfume and ongoing fight with gravity, her extremely large, round boobs ARE indeed pressing into your chest. Sadly, no matter how hard your try, you end up using that bit later whilst in private*. You’re not happy about it, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Riding in the winter is my touchy/feely big boob hug.
Make no mistake about it, I hate winter. I hate the grey skies, the ice, slush, snow and cold, damn I hate the cold! And don’t even get me started on the ball suck holidays like Christmas and New Years that are thrown into the winter mix; I hate it all. BUT, winter is indeed here and the snow that has been coming down the past couple of days was a sure indication of that. When I woke up this morning and saw that snow that was covering the roads and ground I thought today just might be perfect for getting out on the dirt roads for a ride. I was only half right, which is only slightly better than being half wrong.
I often use the phrase “doing stuff” here on the blog, for those who don’t know, that’s my code for working out or riding my bike. Some folks call it training, and there was a time when I too called it that too, but since my days spent unsuccessfully racing my bike are all but over–save for a few races here and there–I just like to say doing stuff.
With that unneeded explanation out of the way, last week I got in some above average hours of doing stuff; roughly seven hours spent rambling around Michiganderburgh dirt roads on the Farley (that doubles as strength training) and two hours of sweating as I lumbered like a handicapped oxen on the treadmill. Along with that I have embraced my old diet ways of eating low fat and clean during the week and doing as best I can on the weekends. ‘Cause really, if I can’t have beers and maybe some pizza on the weekend, what the hell is life good for? Wow, I’m off track… Anyway, I had a good week, I was feeling good and after taking Sunday off, I hoped to pick back up again on Monday; I didn’t.
As I mentioned the other day, I would not be joining my friends, and 2.5 million other riders, to race in the cold and mud of the Iceman on Saturday up in Traverse City, but I did get another couple hours of gobsmacking dirt road riding in on Friday.
For the past couple of weeks, winter has slowly been poking its frozen nose into mid-Michigan. Thankfully, there has been no long-term success. Successful or not, the past week was gray, cold and windy. Christ, I literally hadn’t seen the sun since late last Tuesday afternoon and it was so windy Friday that riding was made impossible, with winds gusting anywhere from 10 to 50+ MPH at times! I am pretty sure I saw a small child blow by the kitchen window at one point.
For the most part, the week was real warm bath and razor blade type weather, and the two days I was able to ride, it took every ounce of mental will power I had to force my jiggling muffin top out the door for a ride. It’s not that conditions were THAT bad, it’s that I am that mentally weak and apathetic.
Fall continues to fall and I continue my best efforts to get out and ride when I can. Today I opted for another dirt road ride aboard the Farley fatty since that’s the bike that’s been the most fun to ride on the dirt roads lately. As I mentioned the other day, all I am really riding for now is to maintain enough fitness to do a few fat bike races this winter and to avoid becoming a complete slob (which some might say I am one meatball away from becoming).
After Saturday’s less than good ride at Hanson Hills, I found myself off the bike for two days. Family stuff, an away soccer match for B-Man and a doctor’s appointment, amongst other things, got in the way. Oh well, the only thing I’m “training” for right now is to not be the fattest guy on my block.
