March: Forth!

I didn’t impress anyone today, that’s for sure. And by “anyone” I mean fellow West Benders Jeff Wren (Team Extreme) and Jim Saueressig (Gryphon Velo), with whom I have ridden thousands of miles over the years. Today we did 25 together—the trusty Covered Bridge Ride—and I didn’t have much to contribute. Going into a 15 mph wind for the first half of the ride was frustrating for me, and sometimes just following a wheel was more than I could manage.

But if you want a silver lining, here it is: at 16.1 mph, today’s ride was the fastest of my 17 rides this year. You have to go back to December 3 to find a faster one. I’ve been doing a lot of rides around town, often on my 29er or my cyclocross bike, and I haven’t been worrying about speed. It’s still winter. I’m a long way from fit but also a long way from any competitive goals. I rode 6 days out of 7 this week, a total of 8.5 hours. You have to go back to September 18-24 to find a bigger block of training on my calendar.

This month is off to a good start, however unimpressive I looked today. We’re facing some snow and cold temperatures in the week to come, but we should get back to sunny and 40° by next weekend. I will have daily broadcasts of Paris-Nice to take my mind off the weather, and on Friday the new UCI World Cup mountain bike season begins, giving me even more to watch. Next Sunday, Daylight Saving Time will return, creating more opportunities to ride with friends on weekdays. I’m slow and fat right now, but I'm choosing to be positive!