Monday, November 23, 2020

Since losing a huge portion of the site, last year, I've spent the majority of my time doing what everyone else in the world is doing...dealing with the global pandemic. While the pandemic did derail an enormous part of my 2020 cycling year...not least, a two-week trip to the Spring Classics...that isn't to say that I've done nothing. Despite a couple of months of unforced-yet-unmotivated lethargy, I was able to climb back aboard in July and get the legs moving again. Of course, I was now 20 pounds over the nice, lean 191 pound rider I was in March, so "moving again" was relative. "Moving slowly, if at all" is perhaps a more apt description.

But, it's now November 2020, and rather than rejoicing over the end of the pandemic, we are all still hunkered down for the next wave, hoping to survive long enough to reach the blessed relief of a coming vaccine. Cycling, once a group sport of spectacle, is now an individual time trial mostly-contested on the indoor trainer. Sure, there are a few "socially distanced" rides with the right group of close friends (your "pod"), but it's just enough to keep you sane, not a source of actual personal growth. Unless you buy into the aphorism that "whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." I don't think the author of that particular tidbit considered the psychological flotsam left after an election year pandemic. Maybe it just doesn't kill you immediately.

Despite all my efforts to the contrary, I have become a mountain biker. I mean that in the most general sense of the term...to the mountain bikers, I am still the "roadie," a barely-welcomed interloper at the cool kids table in the cafeteria. Higher FTP notwithstanding, I am tolerated, at best. But I am LOVING the time spent in the woods on my Cannondale Scalpel or Canyon Lux. it's done wonders for my psyche...you can pound out hours of endurance work without going stir crazy over the painted lines of the tarmac. This is mostly because...there is something to DO most all the time on the mountain bike. There's never a chance on a nice bit of singletrack to simply bury your head and pedal. You're constantly bombarded by decisions that you have to make...hit THIS rock, not THAT one...hit the root straight, or your front wheel is going into the weeds...  I love this part of mountain biking. While I am, indeed, a roadie at heart, the mountain bike has awakened something inside me. I still wear spandex, however.

Oh, I'm a COACH! Yeah...I'm entering my THIRD year as a USAC coach (Level 3) and am officially on the Science of Speed website. My dear friend, Brady, finally caved to my exhortation and whining. So, here I am, offering my blood, sweat, and tears to those of you who want someone to hold you accountable to your best-laid-plans. And if you need help deciding how to bell that particular cat, I'm here for that, too. I'm currently banging through a difficult NASM Certified Nutrition Coach certification, as well....that news will be forthcoming...so I can also commiserate with you about our terrible eating habits, this time with science to help quantify how bad things really are.

Lots and lots of other things are afoot as well....far too much to enumerate, so here's an enumeration....

  1. Time Trials - we have an ITT Strava group with monthly courses and bragging rights
  2. Hill Climbs - we have a Strava group for that, too
  3. NICA Team - Not a Strava Group...did I mention that I'm a coach? I will be chasing the kids of the Tallahassee Thunder, a new NICA Florida Composite team.
  4. New Bikes! - Because...well...that's what I do.
  5. Bikes for Sale! - Also what I do.
  6. Training and Diet and Injuries - all the things people love about cycling.
  7. Goofy Stories - because I talk too much

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I'd love it if you take this particular paver with you and come back to see what's up. I'd like to refocus the site on all the things an aging (well...51...I'm not OLD...right?) cyclist might be interested in, including training and recovery information. There might be some practical advice, or it might just be me spouting my usual nonsense. At least I'm trying.

Oh...and I DO have a backup of the older years and years of material, but will be reformatting and reposting those as time allows. It's a mess and I'm an idiot for not planning for at least the eventuality of this issue. Looks like I'm going to be writing PERL scripts again. Wheeeeee....

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