Downtime

On the way back to our cars after the New Year' day 200k, I mentioned to Joe K. that I was going to dial back the riding back for a few weeks. Just ride casually "off the clock." 

Friday writings for Randos - Flight

{Friday Writings for Randos - A weekly post that features pieces from other writers that touch some facet of the Randonneuring experience, even if that was not the author's intent. It's stuff that's best read out loud - slowly.} This week it's. . .

 Flight

by Louis Jenkins

Sunday morning commute

Three scenes from a Sunday morning in February

Friday writings for Randos - Rain Travel

{Friday Writings for Randos - A weekly post that features pieces from other writers that touch some facet of the Randonneuring experience, even if that was not the author's intent. It's stuff that's best read out loud - slowly.} This week it's . . .

Rain Travel

by W.S. Merwin

Recovery based Training - Part Two

Almost a year has gone by since I posted my theory on recovery based training. Here's a link to the original post (Recovery based training (part one)). But in short, the idea was to schedule the next training session based on how much recovery has occurred since the last hard ride or training session. The measure of the recovery was my morning rested heart rate. In the last year, I followed the program fairly consistently and some results are in. This is an experiment of one, so the results are particular to me. But the results have been interesting . . .

Reader alert- this post is a number crunching geek out from an amateur. No fancy prose, pics or funny commentary. You have been warned. Read on at your own risk. 'Nuff said.

Why Buy an “inexpensive” Bicycle?

(A response to why buy an expensive bicycle) 

Two “randonneur” bikes may look roughly similar. Both can have a front rack and both have gears. Yet one could cost more than five times as much as the other, if you ordered one today.

Of course, there are obvious differences: One already is equipped with lighting and fenders, the other isn’t. But even if we add $500 for those parts to the less expensive bike, we still have a remarkable difference in price. Why is one bike so much less expensive?

New Year's Day 2012

I like New Year's eve and New Year's day. Always have. I like that I can wish pretty much anyone a Happy New Year without couching it in some watered down generic don't step on any toes phrase. I like that New Year's eve and New Year's day is a non-denominational,  world wide, non-controversial holiday that pretty much everyone can celebrate. Even if they celebrate another new year in Spring or Fall, New Year's Eve still marks the last day of 2011 and the first day of 2012. All you have to do to do is agree that one year is ending and another is beginning. It's that simple and yet that profound. I like that.

I'm a trip odometer re-setter. When I fill the tank on my car I press that button to reset the counter to 0.0. On a road trip, the "A" setting is for the trip and the "B" setting is for each new tank of gas. Each push of that reset button is a simple affirmative step that says I have come this far and I am ready to go wherever the next miles will take me.

New Year's day is a good time to reset life's trip odometer. It does not erase  the accumulated mileage or turn back the hands of time, but it creates a little moment to remember the past while looking forward with resolution. It's a time of acceptance and hope. Life can be complicated. It's good to have a reset point.

My simple affirmative step for New Year's day 2012 was to ride a 200k.