Rain Rain, Go Away

We've had a really dry summer, which was good and bad. Bad for most living entities, good for me because I was able to ride outside for the majority of the summer.

I set the last day of August as the end of my summer and starting in September I was going to start moving into my "off-season" riding (I put quotes around that because I don't race, so the fact that I train like I do makes me look silly . . . but I enjoy it). Of course, my "off-season" also coincides with a heavy manuscript season for this editor, so it's part out of respect for the changing weather and part out of respect for my ramping up of responsibility.

This fall and winter I plan on adding a weight program to my usual trainer intervals and weather-permitting rides. The program is designed and ready to go and focuses on building core strength and upper body strength, which is good (I'm told by people who claim to know because they are former "elite" cyclists . . . those guys are a dime-a-dozen in Belgium). I'm not looking forward to any of that, except that I have new DVDs to watch during trainer sessions, some audio trainer sessions and I'm toying with buying a training DVD that has POV racing footage to go along with the mechanized torture they put you through. There's also a hill not too far from my house that my wife discovered that I hope to throw into my nice day rides. By the time spring rolls around, I want to have mastered that hill (it's long and pretty steep, with an insulting sudden pitch in gradient at the end that's right next to a park where children laugh at you as you realize you're out of gears, energy and oxygen).

anyway, the rain . . . It started to rain on Friday, seconds after I finished my ride. August ends on Thursday. The rain is schedule to be off and on through tomorrow and I needed to take two days off the bike because I've been riding a lot. I'm 69 miles from my end of month goal, which I was hoping to spread out into four days. But if the forecasts are right, I'm going to have to change my plans and either do two-a-days of short rides in between storms or a few big days to hit my mark.

Why is this so important? Because September 1 marks the one-year mark of me deciding to get back on a bike and the number I'm hoping to hit is important to me. Already on the 25th of this month I broke my previous records. In fact, this month I've posted four of my longest rides and six of my fastest rides since last September. My average speeds are up across the board and my endurance is astounding compared to just two months ago.

But this number is important. And I need those 69 miles to get that number. If I take a day off I can do it in one day. But I don't want to be a slave to the number. I want to do one of my usual rides for the next few days.

But I'm going to hit that number. Because I want to prove that you can go from a lazy bum to a pretty good weekend cyclist within a year with a little determination and dedication to pain, soreness and discovery of the upper limits of your cardiovascular system.