Cycling: Catching Up

I haven’t blogged about cycling over the last couple of weeks, because I’m a lazy bum. But I have been on my bike, either outdoors or on my trainer. My semi-annual tune-up last week went well, and now my gears shift when I tell them to. (That’s always good.)

Bush Defends War in Iraq, Gas Prices Going Up, and I Love My Bike

The New York Times reports on President Bush’s speech at the Pentagon in which he asserts the Iraq war, now five years old, has made “the world better and the United States safer” (quoting the article). Meanwhile, CNNMoney.com reports that gas prices have just begun to ramp upward. The national average price per gallon is expected to peak at near $4 in late spring. A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll finds that 75% of Americans report financial hardship due to rising gas prices. (In this article, one expert predicts that gas prices will not reach $4 per gallon—that seems to be a minority opinion based on my reading.)

Cycling: Catching Up

Since the last time I wrote, around mid-February, the unofficial Opening Day for the 2008 season (March 1) has come and gone. The weather in central Virginia has been fairly mild, but I’ve found time for only a couple of outdoor rides. Still, my legs feel good, and it’s exciting to get back in the swing of everyday, outdoor rides.

Check This Out: How to Save the Planet

This is a very cool video from the Cyclists’ Touring Club, the national bicycling organization in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

HT: Kent.

Indoor Rides

The weather is improving a bit in central Virginia, but I haven’t found time to get on the road. My three spin sessions this week:

Date	Distance (mi)	Time	Workout
Sat, 2/16	18.57	0:53:19	Spinnervals 3.0
Sun, 2/17	14.30	0:40:08	Recovery
Mon, 2/18	22.26	1:02:54	Carmichael
2008 Totals (23 rides)	423.30	20:09:27

Some TV Motivation

So I’m lying on my cheap Wal-Mart futon rationalizing my decision to stay lazy and not endure my scheduled spin session. I’m tired, and I’ve had little sleep this week, so fighting through a 50-minute Spinnervals DVD is just not in the cards. And then I flip the channel to FitTV, one of the homes of the single greatest TV show on the air today, “Shimmy.” Unfortunately, no “Shimmy” tonight. Instead, they’re rerunning an episode of “Insider Training,” the one about tri-athletes, specifically Lokelani McMichael, the youngest woman to ever finish the Hawaii Ironman.

Why Muscles Get Tired

A fair amount of attention has been paid by the cycling blogs to yesterday’s NY Times article on muscle fatigue. Apparently, calcium, and not lactic acid, is the culprit. Follow this link for a descent summary.

My spin session tonight followed the Carmichael “Cycling for Fitness DVD.” Distance, 22.96 miles; time: 1:03:09.

2008 indoor totals: 19 rides. Distance: 353.98 miles; time: 16:52:44.

Indoor Spin Sessions

I have two DVDs that I rotate for my indoor training sessions: “Cycling for Fitness” from Carmichael Training Systems, and Spinnervals 3.0, “Suffer-O-Rama.” The workouts are about equally difficult, but in different ways. The Carmichael DVD demands a sustained effort at just below threshold for longer periods of time than the Spinnervals DVD, which shoots for short, very intense intervals. Both DVDs specify the target effort level with a sliding scale marked “low, medium, high.” The Carmichael DVD sets a target cadence and allows the cyclist to select the gear; the Spinnervals DVD does the opposite. Neither workout completely exhausts me, but both send my heart rate above 90% of the maximum. In a typical week, I’ll use the Carmichael DVD three or four times and the Spinnervals DVD once.

Good Advice for Drivers and Cyclists

Now that the fire is out, it’s time to get back to cycling. Fat Cyclist has some excellent advice for drivers and cyclists. Read it. Learn it. Live it. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t hit me while I’m on my bike (or any other time).

Pre-Season Rides (2008 Cycling)

My outdoor rides this year, all five of them, have been characterized by strong winds and a lack of stamina. My legs are stronger than last year thanks to several hours of hard indoor training, but I’m way behind last year’s pace for average distance, and my climbing skills are still on vacation.