Good weekend

I know I know.....I could pour out a hundred different excuses as to why my weight hasn't dropped and why my riding has been sporadic at best...but I am not going to waste time. Just know....mentally I am doing good and I know this is a marathon....not a sprint.

This past weekend was pretty good. We planned on doing the Barry Roubaix course for training on Saturday but Dan S. did a little recon and the roads were sheets of ice. We opted to ride around Gun Lake instead and keep on the paved roads. Temperature was under 20 degrees when we started. My legs were not liking me very much. We were on flat roads and I was getting dumped out the back. One of the guys leaving me is a smoker...and hasn't ridden in over 6 months. That was a boost to my confidence. Oh well, he is a 22 year old kid...with a never quit attitude...so I wasn't surprised. I take a while to warm up. I have noticed that if I warm up good I am golden. If I don't, then it might be the second lap of a ride before I feel like I should. This day didn't allow me to warm up at all. We hit a longer climb and my legs just would not go. I never stopped, but slow was an understatement. I just did what I could and figured a slow as hell ride was 150% better than sitting on the trainer for an hour. Over the top of the hill Jeff's chain broke (from sitting for so long) and we stopped to fix it. I was standing on the side of the road in the snow. When we got started the bottoms of my feet felt frozen. Not good, but thankfully we were heading back towards the car. We opted to try one of the gravel roads just to see...and it was super slick. Didn't hit the deck this time, but Jeff did....and he the ultimate slide forever down a hill. I knew he was okay when he gave the thumbs up. All in all, a chilly 15 miles with one major climb.

Sunday the team opted out of BR and decided to ride around Gull Lake. The kids guilted me into staying home so I went out and rode in the afternoon. Legs still felt heavy, but it was cold again. Temps were in the mid 20's but there was a pretty stout wind. I could actually feel the cold on my legs which rarely happens. Guess I am getting old or something. I managed 18 miles by myself. Still better than 90 minutes on the trainer.

Barry Roubaix is in a few weeks and I am really wanting to ride the FULL course. Hopefully the temps this week will do some melting on the roads....then we will have to ride somewhere else because of MUD. Nice. Gotta love Michigan!