Yep. I guess iced in is a better way to put it. I’m not complaining! I stocked up on food and entertainment and I’m set for the weekend.
I did my bit this morning on the trainer, working up a good drippy sweat. Then I did my core workout.
So I’m holed up for the weekend, happy as a clam.
After my lovely Saturday ride, yesterday it was back on the trainer. That was a major bummer! Even with a workout on the ipod, I still cut short. I did start a core workout, which I really, really need.
Meantime, the weather is supposed to get worse as the week progresses.
On other fronts, this was taken with my cell last week. It was a result of the storms preceding the warm front.
Every January there is one little section where the temps warm up and the sun shines. Happily, this year it happened to hit on a Saturday.
I knew the good weather was coming and I was ridiculously excited at the prospect of getting the bike off of the trainer and heading outdoors.
I was up bright and early, ate, dressed, got gear and got the bike off the trainer. As I headed out, suddenly everything was all askew. The rear brake kept rubbing, I couldn’t get it to adjust, and I was getting severely p-o’d.
Being reluctant to screw up a good morning, I decided it would be a good time to head to the LBS.
I got there just as they opened and it was like they missed me! Adam fixed me right up while I had a coffee and we discussed what needs to be done to Black Beauty this spring. Definitely a new chain is needed and probably new cranks. The big ring is showing quite a bit of wear. Surprisingly, the cassette still looks good. The drivetrain is all original, so I’ve gotten a lot of miles out of it. I did get new brakepads today, but still got out cheaply for the day’s work.
So finally I got home about 11:00 in plenty of time for a ride.
As I headed out I hit a bit of a head wind. You don’t get that on a trainer. At first the legs felt a little weak, but after cranking a bit things started to feel normal. I stayed in town, mostly because the buildings give a bit of protection from the wind. I did take a round through the park, just because.
So it was a lovely spin, especially for a January day.
as in what it’s been all weekend. So I pretty much stayed indoors all weekend. I did get some house cleaning done.
My eating was pretty good, well, except for a couple of cocktails.
& I did get on the trainer. I also reminded myself that I can’t just ride and wash tv. Even watching Doctor Who was not sufficient to avert the ‘just pedaling’ tedium. I even came up with a plan to sprint during commercials. That didn’t cut it either.
Back to doing structured workouts.
The snows came yesterday about 11:30ish. I was meeting a friend for lunch and by the time we got out it was peppering. We really didn’t get much, but it’s darn cold and icy.
Lunch was at a Mexican restaurant where they have a chicken and shrimp salad I really love. But I can never eat all of it. So I had them box the leftovers and last night I picked out the meats, onion and peppers, stir fried them in a little olive oil and had them with leftover veggies.
I didn’t get on the trainer last night as I took some work home with me. But at least I got it done.
Have a warm weekend!
I’m disappointed. I was looking forward to some white stuff.
Did quite well last night. I got on the trainer to do Cardio Coach v4. The bad part was that my computer shut down about half way through so I got no stats.
That’s the second time this week. It is a known issue with edge 305s, but mine hasn’t been too terribly plagued with it until now. For trainer purposes I can just lay it on the bookcase next to the trainer set-up. But this may be an issue when I can get back on the road.
Supper was broiled tilapia, broccoli and some black-eyed peas left over from New Years Day. Very good actually. I may have something similar tonight except asparagus for the broccoli.
So far I’m actually doing it. Eating right and riding the trainer, I mean.
Last night was time on the trainer to Cardio Coach v3 and homemade veggie beef soup for dinner.
Lunch was a big salad and a cup of soup.
Lunch today will be about the same and I haven’t decided on dinner yet. For trainer time I think I’ll do CC v4 which is a little longer.
So if the temperatures EVER rise above freezing again, I’ll be ready for the outdoor rides. We’re supposed to get some snow tonight-tomorrow. We get very excited about that here in the sunny south.
It has been a goodly while since I been postey here. Aside from a bit of hiking, I have been a total sloth.
But after holidays filled with food, toddies and watching the tube, I am prepared to right the ship. The bike is on the trainer. The grocery list for better eating has been made out. And I will weigh in tomorrow morning.
As a prelude, I did 45 minutes on the trainer using Cardio Coach 3 as the workout. I like CC better that Spinervals. Hopefully I’ll work enough to get through both.
Much too cold for me to ride outdoors these days. I don’t think we have been above freezing for several days with no prospects for warmth in the future. Aw, maybe above freezing Wednesdayish. A degree or two.
I happened to Stumble upon this nifty link:
http://www.flybikesbmx.com/en/news/post_1001
Really nifty, if they work. Don’t seem to be in road sizes yet.
Yesterday I loaded up and set out for my first overnight backpacking trip. I have some new equipment I wanted to check out and I wanted to hike the section of Bearwaller Gap I hadn’t previously hiked.
I arrived at the Overlook parking lot about 9:30ish, hit the head, then hit the trail.
Heading down the initial section is straight downhill with few switchbacks. I knew this would be tough when I came back. (I was right.) The trail was mostly covered with the freshly fallen leaves meaning you had to really watch your steps. Naturally, watching my feet means I wandered off of the main trail and ended up heading in the wrong direction. I probably added 45 minutes to an hour to the hike in.
This trail is very hilly and rough. My new hiking shoes (New Balance) did well; though I need to put some arch support inserts into them.
After getting off-trail once I was very careful to find the blue blazes marking the trail. At one point I stopped, looking around, but didn’t see one ahead. I turned to see if I could see one behind me and was startled by a brown animal! I let out a yelp. It was a dog. Her tags say her name is Iris and she stayed with me until camp. Very sweet dog.
The trail follows the edge of Cordell Hull Lake. But it’s always high above it on bluffs. You can’t access the lake. I finally arrived at Two Prong Primitive Campground.
I sat down at the table to have my sandwich, which I shared with Iris. Then I checked out the spots to set up my tent.
I assumed that others would be arriving later, so I selected a spot up and away from everything.
Then I did a bit more investigating. There is a spring for water:
And the cleanest privy I’ve ever seen:
Then I made a cup of coffee using my nifty new REI french press coffee cup and settled down with a book. Throughout the day hikers came by and would usually stop to chat. Once a hunter came by too. I had not realized hunting was allowed here so I wasn’t wearing safety orange. He said his buddies had gotten a deer, but he hadn’t. I saw deer a couple of times on the trail.
As the sun got lower, I realized I was going to have the campground to myself for the night. Very cool.
I started a fire in the firepit. I am a very bad fire builder but finally got a little one going. Then I started to work on supper.
I had brought a Mountain House meal, spaghetti, so all I had to do was boil water. That was fortunate. I really need to work on my cookware. I had 2 tealight stoves and a cheapo set of Coleman cookware. I really need to do some upgrading here. The cookware has no grabbable handles and the tealights are so light as to be unstable. So It was really aggravating and I lost fuel and water before it was over. The cookware will need to be replaced outright. I will modify the tealight attaching a wide flat base.
After eating and cleaning up, I decided to take my book to the tent as the temps were already dropping. I changed into comfy clothes for sleeping and crawled in.
This is where the equipment testing really came in. I had ordered my tent and bag from REI, on sale of course.
The tent is an Alps Mountaineering Comet. I was quite pleased. It was warm enough that I left the fly open for the night.
The new bag is an REI brand down bag. Warm as toast. I think the temps went down in the 40s. The only time I was chilled was when I woke up at dawn. But I didn’t have it cinched around my shoulders. If I had, I don’t believe I would have been cold.
For part of the evening, I just laid with my head stuck out the door watching the stars. I even saw a shooting star! I could hear little critters close by and kept grabbing a light to see if I could catch a glimpse of a raccoon, but I never did.
I finished my book and probably went to sleep at about 9:30.
I woke up and laid in the tent waiting for it to get light enough to see to make coffee and oatmeal. After a fight with cookware I had breakfast. If it hadn’t been so hard to heat the water, I probably would have had more oats. I did manage a second cup of coffee though.
After lounging around a bit, I started to break camp. There was a little condensation on the tent fly. I don’t think it appeared until after I had gotten up. Next time, as soon as I’m up I’ll remove the fly.
It didn’t take long to clean up, pack, and police the site. There is a garbage can there, so I didn’t have to pack out the garbage.
The hike back to my truck started out a bit rough as my legs are sore and I start climbing straight out of the campground. But I think that also stretched out my calves.
I was hoping Iris would show back up and walk with me a while. At one point I heard a dog barking. I called for her, but I think the dog I heard was penned.
Once I stopped to take off my pack and shed a layer of clothing. I spotted a pretty young buck with a beginner set of antlers.
I had very little trouble heading back, well except once. I was climbing through a fallen tree and grabbed a stub to pull myself over and through. It came off in my hand and I went over backwards. Happily, I landed on my pack.
That last climb up to the parking lot was tough on my poor sore legs and feet. I was quite happy to spot the red of my truck through the trees. By then it had really warmed up and I was really sweating. I sat down on the tailgate of the truck right on 10:30.
Home by 11:30!
