A Time To Cast Away Stones

“I realize caring for Mr. Burns seems like a big job, but actually it’s just 2,800 small jobs.”

On   to Phase 2 of my 2016 cycling season! Phase 1 ended almost poetically on Sunday with another successful Cheesehead Roubaix and the simultaneous completion of my first 1,000 miles. I love Cheesehead Roubaix but it is a part-time job for a couple of weeks every April. Like any project it has a number of individual tasks, some of which must be completed in a certain order or according to a fairly rigid timetable. Hosting cyclocross practices every autumn at Royal Oaks Park comes with a similar set of tasks, but I don’t need to think about that until late July. For the next 3 months I can be kind of selfish and focus on my own training and racing objectives.

I have been on a “whatever the weather allows” training plan, but with more predictable weather ahead I should get into a better rhythm. Today I set out a detailed schedule that covers every day from May 1 through August 31. (I would have gone even farther into the future, but the WCA cyclocross dates haven’t been announced yet.) It’s good to have some kind of structure even if there are bad weather days and other circumstances that force me to change my plans on any given day. For example, I really want to work out on the mountain bike twice per week. Last year I typically hit the trails only once per week. Mountain biking gives me a more intense workout in less time than an average road ride, and this year I’m not trying to run up a big mileage total.

My “new” job is now 7 months old and I still haven’t found the best sleep schedule to accommodate my overnight work shift. Some days I just don’t have a ton of enthusiasm for training. Weekends will continue to be a good time to pile up endurance miles, but I can’t commit to a regular diet of 3-hour weekday rides. Short, hard efforts have more appeal during the week: mountain biking sessions at New Fane, time trial efforts on my Trenton road course or on the Eisenbahn … that sort of thing.

For the remainder of this week I will concentrate on the non-cycling things that built up on my “To Do” list during the last few weeks. Anything that could wait until after Cheesehead Roubaix, did wait. Now it’s time to give the lawn its first mowing of 2016, time to install the vegetable garden, time to give a thorough spring cleaning to the house and the automobiles. One big push ought to do it, and then I get serious about having fun again.