What happens when you assume

Yesterday started out like many others wake up, pack the car, go to work and ride with the TnT crew.  Before I packed the car I took a few minutes to place the borrowed saddle onto Le Antique so I could try to get a feel for it before I went out on a longer ride later this week.

The ride started with a short cruise over to Westcreek where I arrived a few minutes early and got in a couple more miles while waiting for the remaining members of the crew to arrive.  Once we got started, I dropped back to chit chat with another team member and before we knew it had lost contact with the main group.

This is where my assumption got me into trouble.  Well not really trouble but it did make work a bit harder than I thought I was going to.  The last couple of weeks we had been going left onto Millers and then heading over to Shallow Well before returning back to WC.  I hung a left and gave it a bit more energy in hopes of catching back up shortly.  They couldn't be that far ahead, I thought to myself.

Once I arrived at the corner of Millers and Shallow Well, I began to believe that they had not come this way tonight.  I kept pushing on in hopes that my second assumption of the evening was wrong.  It would turn out not to be wrong.  I was chasing ghosts all night, always thinking I would see them "right around this bend".

That didn't happen either.  I arrived back to the lot a few moments ahead of the them.  Turns out they decided to take two shorter laps instead of one of the longer loops.   My assumption rating was 50% for the evening and it only cost me a few extra farmland miles.  One day my mother's advice about assuming things might just set in, maybe.

Forced time off = ouch

Mid-way through last week, I knew there was not going to be much opportunity for me to get any decent riding time in due to work and the other projects I had started around the house.  I didn't want these projects to continue on for long so I put a lot of my free time into it when I wasn't at work or sleeping.  In trying to keep my sanity, I told myself it was a "forced recovery week."

On Saturday afternoon when I jumped on the bike to make my way my thoughts of "forced recovery week" changed.  They are a bad idea if you wish to keep any sort of consistent fitness.  It had now been 7 days without my arse being in the saddle and my legs were letting me know about it quickly.  Needless to say, the ride in wasn't that enjoyable.  Correction, it was nice to be on the bike but it hurt a bit more than I would have liked.  Saturday evening, I ended up making the ride home mostly with Zeb of the Hug and Tug Crew.  He set a pace I didn't want to really keep but did so just to save a bit of face.

Sunday morning, I woke up a few minutes early so I could help Jenn get ready for her triathlon.  Having to be at work shortly after should would finish I packed my gear up along with hers so I would just ride over from the race and then ride home.  Jenn did a amazing job finishing 6th of 26 while setting a PR for the course.  She was/is extremely happy with her progress.  Now if her hip would stop bothering her like mine was (Is hip flexor discomfort contagious?) she would be even happier.

On the ride home from the shop Ried, Twig and I were all heading the same way so we all left together.  Twig and I were a bit tired still and made the comment that we weren't trying to push it.  Once that was out of our mouths Ried jumped off the front to up the pace.  Again not wanting my ego to take a hit, I put my head down to close the gap and pull him back. 

Once alongside of Ried, I made the comment "Nice jump but how about we not do that again?"  Seconds later, Twig was off the front.  Not again!  Once again I put my head down to pull us all back together which took a bit more of an effort because of our delayed response.  Once we were all back together it was time for Ried to head one direction and Twig and the opposite.  Twig was gracious enough to let me try a saddle he isn't using so after a quick stop by the Square Brick Building on the Right I was back on the road heading for home solo.  Thank goodness, I could finally shut it down and just spin it home.

I don't think I will be taking that much time off the bike in a straight setting anymore.  At least not until September and the ADK is in the past.  This week sees a rest day today, then back at it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday then possibly Saturday and Sunday.  6 days in a row really?  Taking bets as to if it actually happens or not.

1 hour 30 minutes

 Raw vegetables for a salsa and some potatoes ready for heat

 

Gotta have greens with every meal

 Pork stuffed with pepper jack

 Dueling dragons

 Vegetables with a little smokey flavor added

 Golden brown

 Time for a short rest

Final plating before devouring

 

Direction of focus

So the last week has been a bit of a let down in terms of saddle time.  The usual culprits are to blame work, weather and lack of motivation.  Their isn't much I can do about the work and weather but the motivation, I could probably do something about that.  It isn't the fact that I don't have any motivation, it's just I have been focusing all my attention onto work and a couple of projects I/we have started around the house.  Both of which I am terribly excited about.  Neither of which I am going to reveal any details of just yet.

I did pry myself away from said projects and out of the house long enough on Saturday morning for an easy 30ish through Ashland with the TNT crew.  They were slated to ride 75 but with Mother Nature threatening us with hail producing thunderstorms all day we thought it best to get in a quick ride before things got sporty.  As it turned out Mother Nature ended up holding her cards close to her chest and not revealing her hand until late in the afternoon.  No worries as the ride was a good one and I know of at least one other rider who had a great ride despite their being a whispering gnat in her ear all day.

Depending on how quickly the house projects get finished up, I may have a post about a decent ride or two later this week.  Until then, here are some pics from Saturday...

 Delivery thanks to Powerbar

 Orange Turtle which we helped cross the road

 

Field of purple flowers in the mist

Sometimes in life throws us a twist, something we didn't expect to see how we will react.  To see what we will do in the face of adversity no matter how great or small.  This past week has been a rough one for me which thankfully, I do not have many of.  Yesterday, I was in need of a little mental getaway so after work I did the two things I thoroughly enjoy no matter what the conditions are; ride my bike and cooking over an open flame.

After leaving the store, I packed my bag and headed out.  I thought about extending the ride but then an overwhelming desire to just sit down for a few minutes came over me.  At that point I decided to just head towards home and see if my feelings changed along the way.  They didn't.  A short hour later, I was home and playing with the pups.

This photo is actually from Tuesday nights ride.  In trying to take a photo of the horses, I got one of the moon.

 

The last couple of days, I have been addicted to Mexican styled food.  It seems if I eat it one day, I want to eat it for the next 13 days.  For the record I get that way with a fresh pan of lasagna too.  After a quick run to the store, I had everything I was going to need to whip up something new to us on the grill.

 First we started with a couple of breasts rubbed with a chipotle seasoning

 The chicken was then joined with pepperjack cheese, onions, green peppers between two tortillas

After just a couple of minutes on the grill it was finally plated up next to a big helping of Mexican rice

Spoiled Feet

Over the years, I have spoiled a lot of things in my life.  It is often times hard to say no to people.  The hardest in particular order; friends, family, dogs and my wife.  When I was first getting into the endurance side of cycling, a good friend of mine told me that the contact points on the bike are the most important when trying to stay comfortable.  For that reason I have spoiled my feet, without allowing them spoil rotten (that would , by putting them into some of the most comfortable and flashy shoes on the market.  Here's a quick introduction of the current plus a brand new one.

 The Golden Twinkies

Named for their color and desire to be worn while riding the Blingle-Speed

 The Ruby Red Slippers

Named because they take me the furthest for home and like Dorothy, I often times forget how far away I actually am and wish it were as easy as clicking my heels together.

Newest Addition and Yet to be Named

I purchased these because for sometime now the Ruby Red Slippers have been starting to show their age.  They are the same model as the Ruby Red Slippers which is nice because I know my feet will be comfortable in them.  One big difference in the two however is the replaceable heel pad on the new model.  This is important because the worn down heel pad is what is killing the soles of the Ruby Red Slippers.

I was able to test them out for the first on the couch and then on the road this weekend.  For their first ride, I put them through 117 miles of the flattest terrain I could ever imagine.  I was excited that they fit the same as my Slippers.  After about 80ish miles I could start to feel just how stiff the soles were on the balls of my feet.  This is to be expected and doesn't cause me any concern I will just have to get myself a new set of insoles for them as the stock ones are quite thin, good for ventilation but bad for support.  As the miles continue to add up a name for them will surely come, now to get more miles in.

Predicting the Future

Often times, people who claim to be able to predict the future get labeled as a kook of some sort.  Although some may disagree, I will go out on a limb and say I am not a kook, most of the time.  However, I will be making the prediction that this post will be the second most "searched" post of this blog.  Thanks to all the pervs in the world, the post I wrote about breaking the tip off my saddle  is the most popular.  Those same pervs will surely make come across the following photo of me breaking the tip off of something else while searching for who knows what.

Another broken Tip

Another week has come and gone. I had high hopes of some good mileage for the week but they didn't always happen thanks to Motha Nature's bad attitude where she threw a couple days worth of hail spitting, tornado producing thunderstorms at us. Luckily it meant I was missing out on a couple days of commuting and not one of the longer rides reserved for my days off.

Left my sunglasses in Jenn's car.  Had to kick it old school for the day.

Horse Country

This sign means only one thing, Fun Riding Ahead!

Remind anyone else of the Tree of Life at Disney?

Proper recovery is key.  Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, 3 scoops of Powerbar recovery, 2 scoops of ice cream and a splash of milk

And for dessert, Grilled Bananas with ice cream