Biking for Katie

My racing year ended in February when I discovered my torn left biceps and rotator cuff. Then I was forced off the bike entirely for 14 weeks after surgery, and finally suited up for my first training ride Memorial Day. What with a little side trip to China and a new hobby of watching Vesuvius erupt, I haven't had much time to train. I think my buddy Big Jim has given up on me entirely. I did promise him that 2009 training would start this Dec 1 as always, so he knows (and I know) that my racing career isn't over just yet.

For now, I have precious little to motivate me to train: if I don't race, I can't get dropped from the group, so what's the point of working so hard now? Still, there is the little problem of Dairy Queen: I'm addicted to the Chocolate X-treme blizzard with added thin mints (don't try it whatever you do or you'll end up spending your last dime on skid row or the equivalent--Cold Stone Creamery). I need something to motivate me to burn off all those empty calories, and I've found it.

I've always tried to bike commute to work when weather permits, and the weather we've had since we got back from China has been mighty fine. So now I ride to work in the morning (12 minutes), ride home for lunch, back to work and finally home in the evening. Sometimes after work Katie and I go through campus and down the trail and back for an extra 40 minute ride. That's almost 90 minutes on the bike!

Granted, I'm not doing lactate threshold intervals and climbing repeats at max heart rate. Most of the time I'm not even sweating, or if I am it's due to the heat and not my exertion level. Still, it's gotta be equivalent to at least a small-sized blizzard, huh? My weight remains 178 lb, which is my usual not-in-training weight, so as long as that doesn't get out of hand, next year's training won't require much catch-up to get back in racing shape.

What is it that so motivates me to ride back and forth for lunch and such? Take a look:



If you had such scintillating amusements every day, you'd ride home for lunch too.