Just riding around

I’m coming to the conclusion that interesting encounters happen more often while you are out “just riding around”. That’s “just riding around”, as opposed to an intentional training ride — the dreaded 2×20 minute intervals, hill repeats, sprints, etc. For example …
Not long ago while just riding around I found myself helping an [...]

Wrong time to start riding to work

The ideal time to bike to work is in the middle of summer, right? Warm mornings, lots of daylight, and most importantly no parents rushing to get their kids to school on time.
But most of the time riding to work seemed to interfere with training: need an easy ride on Mon; Tues go to [...]

Itching to run

Watching others do sports can be contagious. After the last Winter Olympics I was seriously ready to go out and learn short-track speed skating. So now that my daughter has started cross-country practice, I’m getting the itch to do some running.
I don’t profess to be a big runner — in fact up [...]

Racing with a pig?

I’ve been told that I’m a hypochondriac. A little sniffle or scratchy throat, and I proclaim that I must be coming down with something.
The truth is that when you ride just about every day, you notice when your body feels even a little different. And then you start thinking about how you’re training is [...]

Change of seasons

I’m officially marking the beginning of a new season. The other night I was flying down Winchell Road out by Hiram, and as I prepared to turn left onto Rapids, I found a recent batch of chip-and-seal waiting for me. Including a nice, deep pile of loose gravel in the turn.
The jogger on Rapids [...]

TT Training Tricks

Yogi Berra said, “90% of baseball is mental; the other half is physical”.  Like many other “Yogiisms”, though logically incorrect, this one has an odd, zen-like quality.
He could easily be talking about riding time trials.  You might have a good engine but if you don’t master the mental aspect, then it’s just …  suffering.    Actually [...]

Cross training

This is the time of year when I start doing some cross-training.  But I don’t mean “cross” as in “cyclocross”. My cross-training comes from my annual battle against the falling leaves.
I’ve been fighting this battle for about 15 years now, with no sign of winning.  No matter what I do, the leaves fall again, and [...]