Back in the saddle

Well New England has finally thawed so I'm back out on the bike. Yesterday I did about 56 miles up to Lake Waramaug and back. It's a tough and demanding ride and I was certainly beat by the end of it. The only down side was my bike computer biting the dust at about mile 3 on my 20 miler on Saturday. So yesterday's ride I was completely clueless. I have a guestimate of how far I went. I know it took me about 3.5 hours and I need to throw down some cash either at the bike shop or at nashbar. Granted I think I'm going to go wireless with cadence. For years I've been struggling to guess my RPMs on spin workouts or going up hills. Likewise I'm mounting this thing to the chain stays so I can get accurate distance while I'm spinning.

As mentioned before I'm looking at delaying my enlistment into OCS until the fall. I know I'm going to get the "he's having second thoughts routine" but I have to take care of somethings in the meantime. (like reviewing all of my highschool and college math courses so I can ace my ASTB and getting some affairs in order (financial and personal), also I want to get some racing in this summer.) I will say my new job is pretty good and it's definitely helping me get used to working under stress.

Back to Sunday's ride I was solo for most of it and I ain't going to lie I was missing having Josie and Bjoern to help pace me. But the solitude of 50 miles in the saddle also allowed me valuable time to thing. Not just about pedal stroke ( which judging by my shadow has improved.) but about life in general. I thought about how I love pushing myself and my love to compete and that whatever I do I can continue to race. I thought about political crap, philosophy and religion ( I won't express those views for fear of excommunication.) people I've met, people I've hurt, people I've helped. Races I've done and want to do. Essentially I can say my ride bordered on a transcendental experience, either that of my O2 saturation levels were lower than I thought and I need to build more base. But in anycase it felt good to be in the saddle.

R.D.