Ugh... Back to Work

It was tough enough pulling my head off the pillow at 5:45 this morning to "ride" my bike in the garage, but going back to the office after a full week off was even worse. I tend to settle into a totally different sleep pattern when I'm off work, going to bed at midnight, sometimes later, and sleeping as late as 8:30 or 9:00. So the first couple of days back at work are a difficult adjustment in terms of going to bed early and waking up early.

I "rode" the indoor trainer b/c it was 28 degrees and still dark at 6:00 AM. As much as I hate the trainer, at the time it seemed like a better alternative to freezing, wheezing, and dodging cars as they run stop-signs in my neighborhood. Plus, it takes less time to setup the trainer than it does to put on every piece of winter clothing I own, so I actually have a few more minutes to pedal when I stay in the garage. Afterall, I only have an hour to ride. Gotta get the most out of my chamois time. You can also pedal on the trainer in a state of half-consciousness until your blood starts flowing and your brain starts working.

Road racing starts in Texas in 2 more weeks with an 83 mile road race on Jan 19th, which is asolutely insane. 2 weeks after that, a Road Race and Crit. The rest of the riders in the country (except for a few other Souther states) are still doing winter base rides in their basements, and we are out hammering each other on the open road like a bunch of damn fools.

However, I suppose it is better to have races in the off-season than having no races at all. I remember when I first started racing. After a few good races in Feb. and March, you basically had to drive out-of-state if you wanted to do a race with more than 15-20 people. Now, our road racing calendar is pretty solid from late Feb. to Sep, and the races draw good turn-outs. We even have a good number of cyclo-cross races to slake your competitive thirst on over winter.

So I am not overly excited about getting hammered in a road race in mid-January, before I have even started doing any type of intervals or high intensity training. But I'll gladly take that over snow-covered roads and temps in the teens.