So now that I've ridden more than an hour for 4 days in a row, which hasn't happened in years, I feel like I'm back in the swing of things. For some reason, where there used to be no motivation, I'm now really looking forward to my next ride. I'm not sure what prompted the light switch to flick on. Possibly my weight topping out at 186 lbs and feeling like a lazy sack o' crap? It can't be the goading I get from my friends, because they've been trying all kinds of tactics for a few years - being nice, being mean, tempting me with bacon, etc. But nothing stuck.
In any event, I'm back on the bike and having fun. I don't see racing happening in the next couple years till I get more out of debt and my wife gets done with school and gets a nice job. But I'll be working at getting faster and lighter. I've never been good at structured training, but I still need goals and such - enter Strava.
As some of you may know....
Tangent: How many people even read this blog anymore? For that matter, who reads blogs in general aside from a few word smiths? I like complete thoughts, wordiness, and run-on sentences, so blogs work much better for me, rather than Twitter or Facebook. Other tangent: The race summaries of Gravel Worlds on Facebook were quite annoying. I know that's some people's only means to convey their thoughts to friends and family, but Facebook is meant for annoying game requests, all things cats, and political misinformation - you know, nothing really useful, just entertaining - not really long descriptions of how epic the race was(I'm not bitter and kicking myself for missing that race...no). Original tangent: So if you read this blog, that means we're probably friends on Facebook and/or connected in some sort of social networking fashion so you'll know that...
I have recently joined the Strava movement. It's pretty cool since it's basically Facebook for GPS strapped cyclists. You follow (and if they post something you don't like, unfollow) people to see what they've done and where. There's KOMs - King Of Mountains (why not KOTM for King Of The Mountain??? What makes "Of" so much better than "the"???) which tracks how fast someone rides a specific length of pavement/gravel/dirt/etc. I've kinda always wondered who creates the KOTM courses? Does someone just create it, then other riders happen upon it and Strava automatically knows they're attempting to best the KOTM creator at "That one hill on that one street?" I guess I'll figure it out eventually as all I've entered into Strava world is my measly shortened commute to work. It's pretty pan flat aside from the hill from 42nd and Leavenworth to 42nd and Emile. I guess I could create a KOTM for that? Why not? Then I could try to best myself for that half a block every weekday.
Oh, by the way, the only reason my joining Strava was possible is because Fred lent me his spare Garmin. What a pal. Now I can attempt some of my favorite climbs around town I used to fly up when I was in shape and see where how I stack up to the current elite riders. Hmmmm... Maybe this is another mean tactic used by Fred to force me to get faster as I'm guessing my current times up those KOTMs will be pretty lame.
Meh, either way, it should be fun as I'm really looking forward to putting all the time I can on the bike. Woohoo!!!
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