January 4th, 2010

We'll go backwards...

Monday January 4th, 2010:
Went to the gym with Dane. We are winding down our strength training this month. This week and next we are hitting the weights Monday and Friday while swimming Wednesdays. Swimming is being brought in to help stretch out my back and to strengthen my core, my biggest weakness. Do not think for a second I have decided to try a triathlon. I will wait until peer pressure gets deafening when I am in my 50's.

The last 2 weeks we cut weights back to just Mondays, with swimming on Wednesdays and now yoga on Fridays. If I am uncomfortable on my bike then the weight training is useless, so this is the time to work on stretching and my core.

January is also the month I start my weight loss program. Being that I am not overweight at all I feel like an asshole saying I need to lose weight, but there is a difference between being at a healthy weight and being at a performance weight. I would like to be at the latter.

Another reason to tone down the weights is because I am starting to up my intensity on the road. My miles will come down as I do more intervals. One of my favorite things to do is hill repeats. It hurts a lot for a non-climber like me, but you can actually see your results. Find a short 1 kilometer hill that is fairly steep and do it as many times as you can. then do it out of the saddle as many times as you can then only do it out of the saddle. It helps your sprint, well it helped mine.

Sunday January 3rd, 2010:
Short easy day on the bike. just did a loop through Shady Canyon and then stopped at Marcel's bike shop in Laguna Niguel (Celo Europa). Riding alone is one of the most cathartic things I know of. I feel like Henry Fonda and the 11 other "Angry Men" are in my head debating my life's most insignificant topics.




Saturday January 2nd, 2010:
Wes Nielson, my new team mate on Team Becher +, came out my way for a ride for once. Normally I go east to Pomona, but the riding is so much nicer here, its not even fair. He liked the opportunity to ride along the coast for once.

I took Wes through Shady Canyon then up Ridgeline to University. From there to the Back Bay and on to the coast. With it being the first Saturday after New Years the day was pretty quiet surprisingly. there were very few people out and about in cars of on bikes/running. There were also few females to make the ride more attractive, our high pressure system made up for it again.

We took PCH down to Dana Point and just rolled over the worst kept secret in Southern California. PCH needs to be refinished in Laguna beach though, it hurts like hell right now.

Through those rollers in South Laguna I like to keep my bike in a very easy gear and spin almost I'm spinning out.

I feel bad though, because I misrepresented the ride to Wes; he was expecting no hills and it was non-stop rollers. I had a lot more I wanted to say, but I started this entry 7 hours ago, so its all been forgotten by now.

Monday January 4th, 2010 Supplemental entry:
Dave and I spent quite a bit of time, with help later from Dane, building a bike for his fiance. We painted a road frame grey and slime green then put flat handle bars on it and the easiest gear ration you have ever seen. I am jealous of this bike. I will post pictures once I finish putting the grips on and cleaning it off.

Song for today:
The Rolling Stones - Under My Tumb

	The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine