Posts Tagged → random

Scales

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Yesterday (on the road for 41 miles), and today on the trail, was all about the scale. No, not the scale that tells me that I’ve gained 40 pounds since 2005 when I started this blog, fancied myself an endurance mountain bike racer who eventually realized he just likes to ride his bike on trails, gravel and roads, drink beer, eat good food and sometimes race, but the pain scale. I have to say, that even though I don’t like pain, I like this scale way more than that fucking, lying piece of shit in my bathroom… Forty pounds my ass!

This week has been made up of the following: riding, bitching, moaning, hate, expanding my liver, stretching, core work, ice therapy (to that area that makes up the gulf betweenst my two giant love handles) and adjustments to my riding position. Right now, things are going pretty darn, not bad. In fact, today I completed my normal 16 mile loop and on a pain scale of 1 to 10 I think it was merely a 4… maybe even a 3. Woot!

To go back a smidge, I got out yesterday on the road bike. I felt like shit… I felt great… I felt like shit… I felt great. Grrrr…

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While I didn’t feel great over the entire 41 miles of crap Michigan roads, I felt well enough that I didn’t want to sell all my bikes and take up drinking and masturbation as my “go-to” hobbies (they will remain in the 2 and 3 slots).

And I as I said above, today’s slow/quick lap felt pretty OK… ish.

Later…. I have a couple other hobbies to take care of.

Short & Sweetish (not Swedish)

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I hadn’t planned on riding today, but I started putzing around making adjustments to my cleats and riding position, attempting to relieve my ongoing lower back issues and decided I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to find out if I am heading in the right direction. So I did a short and sweet-ish 10 mile singletrack loop.

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Progress

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I got out on the bike for the fourth day in a row today. Starting to see some progress in the back pain area. Raising the seat post was a good move, plus I noticed a slight difference in cleat for/aft placement between my left and right shoes. The left was about an 1/8″ back. This might be playing into my imbalance issues. We’ll see, I fixed that this evening, so I will have to do more “testing” this week. I suppose there are worst places to be “testing” out new positions. The woods are coming alive and the ferns are starting to blossom. Soon the entire forest floor will be covered with them. I love that.

 

A Variety

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This weekend has contained a variety of riding. Some of it was good, some of it was bad and some of it was outstanding. The bad were my two mountain bike rides, I could go in to how frustrated I am and how shitty I feel on the bike right now, but I won’t. Partly because I don’t have time and partly because I may have narrowed it down to the saddle height on the Superfly being a bit lower than it should be. That still doesn’t take away from the fact that my back is a mess and my hip flexor continues to make a lovely popping sound when my leg is rotated. But I am still hopeful that I can get my knots worked out soon and my position on the Superfly re-dialed in.

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The Ditching of Subparness

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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.

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Subparness

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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.

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An Improvement of Sorts

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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.

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