The stark absence of my ride analyses explained!

I know, a riveting subject. One that needs explanation nonetheless. Don’t worry, there’s a ride later on.

So, as I mentioned before, I had some difficulty getting on my bike once my new job started back at the beginning of October. This also just happened to be when my lovely bike broke (or more accurately, I broke it) – at the end of the Eddy Merckx Strava Challenge.

Stage is set. All of these things added together ‘kinda-sorta’ burned me out with the blog and riding. Not a bad burnout, a good one. How can it be a good burnout? Does such a thing exist? Yes!

SCorched Earth

The blog had gotten difficult to post on during my new job training, simply because I spent so much time in front of a computer, and will continue to do so for the next 4 weeks. So that’s not changing. This is good because, to be honest, computer-ing takes it out of me. Sitting at work, then at home for such a long time staring at a wall of text exhausts my mind with its dullness. Simply put, I enjoyed not being on this blog for those 2 weeks. It gave me a needed break.

While I didn’t have a choice in my break from my bike for about 3 days, I chose not to ride as much over the last 2 weeks because of the 777.8 km I had ridden in the 17 days prior to my faulty mechanical skills ruining my bike. I had a lot of time put on the bike in those 17 days in a lot of the same routes (which many cyclists can tell you, gets pretty boring after a while). No, not in the 17 days, but also add in the 3 months prior and it was a lot of the same ‘ol scenery. While this is good in some aspects, it made my rides a little grind-esque. So, my rides decreased in quantity and quality for about 2 weeks.

The good news, I will find balance eventually. The new job schedule is kind of crap at the moment due to special classes in far off lands, but it will be more manageable in the the next 3 weeks. So, yay!

Semi-nude Photos

Oh yes, my physical progress page. I’ve been slacking, I know. Our scale was accidentally kicked by yours truly and it shattered into a million bits, making it impossible to weigh myself.

Also add in that I’ve been having a good ‘ol time with food lately, making me less proud of myself over the last 2 weeks. No worries, I’ll get it back in no time. Just needed to lapse right quick.

Make it all stop!

OK! Last weekend I completed an absolutely wonderful ride to Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. Yes, that’s the name of a town here.

The Ride!

• 60.7 miles; 03:20:29
• 18.2 mph average speed
• 38.7 mph max. speed – new personal record!

The scenery was amazing. So much goodness in the land around Lake County. Dense foliage and gently sloping hills abound!

The sign that proves the name!

Pond full of lily pads. I should have taken a panoramic, this open area was huge!

An overlook of the area north of Howey-in-the-Hills. You can see just a sliver of Little Lake Harris near the horizon.

I am very proud of this ride. Lots of mileage (almost another metric century) – to be honest, it probably was 100 km due to all the back-tracking I did for these pictures as well as forgetting to get water refills about 1 mile out of town.

Let’s talk about winds!

Yes, we all hate them. But I’m starting to enjoy the results of riding in them. I am getting much better at riding in the drops – I still need work, but man what an improvement. Without the winds, I would have delayed the discomfort of the drops for a while. Since that’s not the case, I find my speed is increasing on flatland as well as downhills. This ride, I was able to reach yet another high speed – 38.7 mph! Thank you, drops!

Since I reaped the benefit of riding in winds, they needed their revenge. And they got it on this ride. From mile 38 to my terminus, nothing but head and cross winds. Yes, my average speed suffered greatly as a result. But hey, 18.2 mph with no tailwinds (they started up right about when I exited the hills of Howey-in-the-Hills), sounds pretty good to me! In any case, I spent most of the last 20 miles in the drops at a steady 17-18 mph. It actually felt amazing to tear thru the winds that would have previously destroyed my momentum as well as my spirit just a month ago. It just goes to show you how much riding in what we might consider crap conditions, could end up being the place we make the most improvements.

All this, Summarized

Great speed, great technique in the winds, great scenery = great ride, happy Joel!

I will be getting in just one photo this month for comparison with July (without a weight since I have no more scale in the house).

I will be posting more, but less than I was at the start of all this.