A wee bit of snow fell Sunday night, enough to leave the roads too shitty to ride on for 5+ hours so De Cal and myself headed out for a 4+ hour hike in the Short Hills with my dog who was chassing dear and squirrels the whole time. He's getting a little braver and starting to venture way out of sight only to come running back onto the trail to catch back up, pass, and jump back off the trail to do it again. Maybe one day he'll actually bring something back with him, but doubt it. We threw in some push-ups and attempted some pull-ups so we can feel like Rocky, it worked, I felt ripped.
Tuesday morning I hit up the Short Hills for 3 hours with the studded tires, I don't know if it was me or the tires but I was riding like shit for what the trails seemed like. On Monday there was an ice base layer and a little bit of snow on top, Tuesday it was pretty similar but the snow was a little firmer and ate my wheel quite a few times. Oh well, crashing is fun in the snow. Energy was very low as I was finishing up in the 8x12 loop so I decided to finish it up on the road to get back to the car. Followed that up with a couple hours of strength work on the farm carrying pales of chicken feed around.
Yesterday was supposed to be crap out and my boss needed me, plus I knew I'd be tired so it was perfect. After a couple hours of work it was really nice out and I wasn't feeling tired at all, oh well, can't complain about making money. For the first time in a long time I was motivated enough to come home and ride the trainer for an hour or so. Today I was planning on 4 hours on the road, it would have been pefect if I wasn't stuck in my big ring. I tried to downshift coming out of my street but nothing, with no choice but to hammer all the climbs and keep a decent pace when it's flat I ended up with 3.5hrs, after killing myself up DeCew I knew I wasn't going to bother with another little loop to get the time in. I felt really good today, recovered quickly from uphill efforts and stayed strong the entire ride.
It's good to finish rides this time of year feeling like you could have kept going physically and mentally. Physically because this isn't the time of year (for those starting their race season in April like myself anyways) to be putting in those kinds of rides because that calls for an early season burn out, especially if you live where it's a little colder than places like AZ or Cali. Mentally it's great because you're already pumped for the next ride from the second you get off your bike and wipe it down.
So I guess training is now in full swing, so is calorie consumption. I'm hooked on dates now, I always seen De Cal munching on them when we were at races and whatnot but never really liked them that much. Now, for some reason, I can't open the fridge without popping one or two in my mouth.
Hmmm, what else is new... I'm in charge of groceries now and cooking most nights so pics of deliciousness are defenitely on their way.
I haven't decided on mtb or road tomorow, if we get alot of snow then it's going to be mtb for sure, but if we get more than alot I might head out for another monster hike. Saturday is supposed to be nice enough outside for a few hours on the road and then some, we'll see how she goes.
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