THE BIG FREEZE

Cycling in February is always hit or miss.  You ride outside with decent weather and inside when not.  For me, it is on the trainer set up in the kitchen.  This year, with zero races on the calendar, I'm not particularly motivated to ride and that goes double for riding in the kitchen.  It wasn't like this weather event was a surprise, it had been forecast for a week.  Depending on the forecasting entity, the low temperature was to be somewhere between 6 and zero degrees.  At our house it was 2.

So, on Sunday, February 7, I got in my long ride to Weir, skipped riding on Monday, and Tuesday got in some practice at Old Settlers Park (there will be a separate post and exciting announcement soon, and this practice is part of it).  Then the weather arrived.  I think the original forecast had a five day event, but as the front approached and other systems appeared, they kept adding days before things abated.  I decided to ride every day in the kitchen until I could get back outside.  

Because the cars weren't going anywhere, I set the bike in the garage just outside the kitchen door, and the Cycleops trainer on the other side, giving me easy access to both.  I've ridden one hour ten out of eleven days.  The only day off was when I got caught up in the impeachment trial and watched tv most of the day.  Unlike those who embrace virtual racing, I focused on cadence.  I'm most comfortable at 80 rpm but really need to increase that to 90 rpm.  Don't get me wrong, my last race at the Driveway was twenty-four minutes long and I averaged 90 rpm, with a high of 115.  The key word is comfortable.  I'd like to be comfortable at 90 rpm for an extended period of time.  

So, for the first seven days I did my cadence in an easy gear, so I really wasn't getting much of a cardio workout.  Then I did a few days in a much harder gear.  I found out quickly just how much fitness I'd lost, doing only one-minute repeats.  History has proven that cardio can be brought back up without too much stress.  Remember, I'm working on 2022.

I'll be riding outside today.  My original plan was a long ride, then a two-hour ride, now it's wait and see because of the wind.  It may end up being one out back at Old Settlers, but it will be outside.