And exactly what has happened you ask?
I was supposed to ride my first century in April, for which I stopped running for three weeks in order to build my bike mileage, and as a side benefit give my shins a rest from the pounding of running in the suburbs. However, three days before the scheduled ride in the Wasatch mountains (mountains used loosely here) of southwestern Oklahoma was cancelled due to the last minute bailing out of about half the anticipated riders. While I could have been, and to an extent was, fairly upset about the news, it so happened that the small Texas town of strong German influence, Muenster, was holding its annual Germanfest festival the same weekend which happens to include a metric century popular among cyclists in north Texas who appreciate a cold Shiner beer following a windy ride.
So thus we began, my uncle and I, early Saturday morning with about 30 preliminary miles around the small lake where he lives, and then we drove the thirty minutes to Muenster to begin the metric on a clockwise loop (beginning at about 3 o'clock if you imagine it) on what turned out to be a VERY windy day, with the wind blowing out of the south. Thus the last 10 miles were a hot, fairly miserable leg with not enough fellow riders around to form anything resembling a pace line and suffering through the wind alone, wishing the headwind would at least bring about the aroma of brawtwurst and sauerkraut, but alas, it did not.
Muenster was over three weeks ago now, and much else has happened, including, but not limited to:
my first ever time trial
helping a colleague select the best pedal/shoe option
getting back into running
dealing (again) with shin pain
missing my first regular swim practice in months
checking out a new masters swim club
realizing my first "A" race, with which I hope to qualify for the US Open elite wave, may not actually meet qualification requirements
my new appreciation for mapmyride.com
progress on my fixed gear conversion project
my struggling attempt to maintain my workout/diet journal
recent podcast reviews
and...
an upcomming trip to Colorado where I hope to complete a 22 mile ride which includes a 9 mile leg with 2500 ft of climbing
So brace yourselves, the firehouse of new posts might be opened soon, I'm in the middle of the spring and summer semesters with much too free time on my hands and the creative juices are flowing,
P
