It’s my birthday, so I took off on the F-5 just before 6:00 am and rode my age. I rode to Athens, then back through Purtis Creek State Park, to end up with 68 miles. My fitness level is the lowest it’s been in many years, and I was pretty wiped out after a 68 mile ride. I’m not happy about that, but I temper it with the knowledge that most 68 year olds aren’t capable of riding 68 miles at all. So there’s that.
My riding troubles started last November. It was such a rainy month, and even though I don’t work a lot of hours, I seemed to be working on all the nicer days. I ended up with 340 miles for the month, not as many as I would have liked, but that’s pretty common in November. Then, in December I came down with a cold/sinus infection/whatever-it-was that I couldn’t seem to get rid of. I’ve learned to limit my miles when I’m sick, and every time I would feel better and do a ride, I got sick again. I only ended up with 305 miles for the month, and for the first time in many years, missed my mileage goal for the year by 30 miles.
But my riding issues would get worse. By January, my cold had turned into really bad bronchitis which seemed to take forever to get rid of. The weather was consistently cold and wet, and I only managed three rides for 110 miles for the entire month. That has to be my worst mileage month since I started riding 14 years ago. By February, I was feeling better, but the weather was still bad, and just like earlier in the winter, I seemed to end up working on all of the dry and mild days. I only managed 210 miles in February, another horrible mileage month.
And March started out the same, cold and wet most days, and I worked the few days that weren’t. Finding myself at the worst fitness level in so many years, I finally decided I had to change my training plan. For many years, I’d said I would not resort to indoor riding, but I finally conceded it was time to add that to my training. I bought a Cycleops Hammer trainer, and put the RANS Xstream on it. I joined Rouvy, and starting on March 13th, I began doing rides on the XStream in my dining room. Nine of my eleven rides in March were on the XStream. It would have been another terrible mileage month without the trainer. Even though I didn’t get started with it until the 13th, I still managed 383 miles for the month, much better than the rest of my winter.
I’m going to make use of the trainer year round. In the summer, when I start a weekday ride in the dark in the morning, knowing I may get a call to work at any time, I’m going to do those on the trainer. That will make it much quicker for me to end a ride and head for work if I get a call. I’m also going to use the trainer for afternoon rides when the temperature outside is 95 degrees plus. Hey, I’m now an old fart, and I won’t apologize for that concession to age. Rouvy and the Cycleops Hammer make indoor riding much more fun that it ever was before. You watch a riding video, have to pedal harder when a hill shows up on video, and get more stats recorded than what I do on outside rides. I think I can stick with it, and that I should.
Meanwhile, my fitness level has fallen to the point that I’m completely exhausted after a 68 mile ride at what should have been an easy pace. Nothing to do at this point but work on that. I did a 50 mile ride on Wednesday, so today’s ride gave me 118 miles for the week.
Today’s route.
XStream on the Cycleops Hammer.
View when riding the XStream now.
