Cross Country Rambler

There is this article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a itinerant cyclist whose been traveling cross country for the last 8 years by way of three-wheeled recumbent and a trailer. He's seen 41 of the lower 48. He has no plans to stop after he's seen the last 4.

Fortress of Solitude

My basement is set up as a training facility where I find new levels of "sensations" in my legs, or so Justin would call it. I sooped up my magnetic resistance trainer by adding extra magnets. Because I am heavier than the average cyclist, I pump out more Watts, and it throws me outside the calibrated linear power band of the resistance unit. I can get plenty tired, but the only way to redline myself is with high cadence speed work. All low-cadence out-of-the-saddle climbing on the thing is fairly mellow till I figure out a way to add more resistance.



Pedaling in a basement is sometimes boring though. I parked a laptop with speakers and either pop in a DVD, or blare music.



For variety, once a week I go to a spin class, where I can do a more power oriented workout on the big bikes that do big resistance. I am lucky enough to live down the street from Cyclelogik, a bike store/coffee shop/art gallery that caters to racers and triathletes, selling bikes, hosting spin classes, providing coaching, and biometric assays like lactate threshold and VO2max-type stuff.

Non Supportable Crust

In the morning everything was still icy. The best way to go fast was to stay upright, and if you wanted to pass someone, you waited for them to crash while trying not to crash yourself. This, of course, took supreme focus. If you could stay on the hardpack you could go far and fast. Otherwise, game over.

As time went on the ice turned soft. Corners could be taken faster. Grip was perfect. The challenge then was dealing with lapped riders. To pass you went off the line and became a fishtailing snow plow.

By the end it was warm and the crusty snow became twice-baked mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Lap times went up again as perfect grip gave way to slop.

At the finish I was rewarded with fifth place in my category, a season best at season's end.