I’m half way into my winter training year and there’s nothing new to report this week. I do basically the same workouts every week and rest a little bit every 4th week. My off-season training isn’t rocket science, and I like it that way. I have yet to start up my weight training yet – as I’m half avoiding it and Im half dreading it. I don’t even really have a reason to avoid or dread it, I’m just caught in a training malaise right now. Usually when I get in a training rut, like to buy myself a new bike trinket or try a new workout of some sort.

 

But right now I can’t think of anything I would want to buy. The annual Zipp delivery will soon be forthcoming, so maybe that will jump start my enthusiasm. I should also sell my surplus bike parts soon. We need a new sofa for the living room, and in these tight economic times I might be forced to liquidate old bike paraphernalia to finance the new sofa. It is a little contradictory to sell exercise related equipment to purchase something that literally is meant for parking my ass on, but I have no choice. Nothing is getting purchased in this house until the sofa situation is remedied.

 

I’m thinking of starting a sofa fund using the classifieds on the site here. I getting out of the tubular game (I’m tired of gluing tires—laziness is the proper way to decide on proper wheel choice, isn’t it?) and switching to clincher Zipp 404s instead. I should be able to get something for the 404 tubulars I have, no? The rear is 2 seasons old and, because I’m an idiot and left my previous front wheel at a race, the front wheel is only a season old. And the wheels are good luck! They have the stench of a win on them—that should be good for an extra $5 or so I’d think. Feel free to send any bids you may have my direction. I’m not proud.

 

This week has also been a busy one for me at work also. Many may be surprised to find out that churning out blowhard-y training entries does not provide enough for myself and my family to live on. Those people might also still be operating under the 1996 delusion that anyone with a website and a dream can make millions on the internet, but we are operating in the era of Web 2.0, a technical term which means that about five guys are making all the money that is to be made on the internet. And they’re all jerks.

 

I’m in the midst of working up an identity, which to those not versed in marketing talk, means that I’m coming up with a name and logo for a company. This is the part of my job that requires a great deal of creativity, because if you just come up with something that looks exactly like everything else that is out there, clients tend to call you names, belittle your artistic prowess, and most importantly—they don’t pay you. Needless to say, this lack of payment makes it hard to acquire much needed items like sofas and foodstuffs.

 

In my creative career, I’ve learned a few things about my own creative process, and I won’t bore you with too many of my tricks—here’s a quick hint, one of them is Judas Priest—but one trick that I’ve found very useful is riding my bike. I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation for propensity towards greater creative thinking after a ride, but I don’t have the time or inclination to look for that sort of information right now, so I will just assume it exists. What I do know is that, after a ride, I’m better at making up stuff. I’m not sure whether it’s the endorphins, the change of scenery or the fact that I’m secretly thrilled to have been out in public in rainbow colored underwear, but something about physical activity helps me with my creative endeavors. That’s why I usually try to reserve my afternoons after I ride for creative thinking. Plus, if I didn’t ride at midday, I’d be in front of my computer for about 10-13 hours straight; and that might just be enough to turn me into a Unabomber copycat. So not only does cycling help my career, it also keep the world a safe place.

 

Saturday, November 29, 2008

 

Today was a much more relaxed team ride than what has happened previously. We had a nice group together with Jeff, Andy, Kevin and Chris from another team that will go nameless. We went nice and slow, without any nonsensical attacks towards one another. It made for a very pleasant ride—and a terrifically dull journal entry. You’d think that would keep me from mentioning it at all, but you’d be very wrong.

 

 

 

Monday, December 1, 2008

Here’s another uneventful ride here, in fact I’m stringing a whole week of uneventful rides together now.

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Here’s a dull ride with one interval of 21/10s injected, but that doesn’t make it any more interesting.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Yes, you guessed it—another dull ride. And you only have to read about it (if, in fact, you have made it down this far), I had to live it.