Estela's first ride of 2009!

We've had nice weather up here lately. The snow is melting. There's still more snow coming, though. Everybody knows this, they way they know the sun will rise tomorrow. The snow is just a little less predictable. The nice weather seems to be getting more and more uncertain. The people out looking at annuals to put into their garden are deluding themselves, or else are really good following the weather channel and are prepared to protect their plants at a moment's notice.

I'd made my energy drink yesterday and left it in the fridge. Puttered about getting ready for the ride; pumping up tires, checking spares and tire change stuff, filling water bottles, cutting up Clif's bars, finding sunscreen and arm warmers, and all that sort of stuff. I wasn't sure how the ride was going to work out or if all that time on the spin trainer was going to pay off.

The forecast for today was high of 13 C, with light winds. Maybe it got that warm, but just barely. The winds were a bitch, all over the place, somewhat gusty. They've swept the road in places, and mostly the gravel situation is really good. I rode from our house, down 37th St to 22X, and out to just past the information booth for Kananaskis Country, and back for a total of exactly 90 K in 3:35:30. I wore shorts, short sleeved jersey, and arm warmers. I was a little on the cool side the entire ride. Without the wind it would have been perfect.

Things started well. Getting to 22X (7.5 K) normally took me 20 to 21 min or so last year, today was 18:30 riding easy. Heading west, into the wind (remember that phrase, and apply it to just about every segment of the ride), doing a little better than last year. One tri guy passed me, didn't even say hi, or tell me he was passing. Fortunately, there's almost a full car lane for bikes there so there is lots of room. The first hour was a hair under 25 K.

Just past Priddis, Jeff caught up to me, and we rode together almost to Bragg Creek. It was nice chatting with someone, but it was slower than I would have ridden. However, I wasn't out to break any records. I wanted to do the ride nice and aerobic, and see how I felt. Picked up the pace a bit after he turned off, but the wind picked up too. In a way I was happy about that since it would blow me home. Made it to the 45 K turnaround at the 1:58 mark or so. This is a hair quicker than last year.

What I thought would be a wind blowing me home turned out to be a crosswind most of the time, and a head wind some of the time. Coming home is more downhill than not, but there's a couple good uphills. I started getting a sore butt about 3 hour mark, which was the longest I was on the trainer all winter. It goes quick, but I was getting a bit tired. Only saw a few other cyclists, which was a bit of a surprise. Maybe they all rode yesterday, figuring to get it done while the getting was good. Lots and lots and lots of motorbikes.

Home in 3:35:30. Took about 5 min to put Estela downstairs, stretch my back a bit, eat a couple cookies, and finish off the energy drink. Then I went out for a short run. My legs were heavy at first, but after about 10 minutes I settled into a comfortable pace, just a little slower than my normal run pace. Kept the heart rate aerobic. Feet felt fine. Ran 20 minutes.

The first thing I did when I got home was put my feet up, and hold them there with the yoga strap. That felt so good. Stretched. Showered. QA some cookies Linda made. (Life is so hard!) There's some chicken marinating in a 'Bear Claw Chipolte sauce' and the tag line on it is "This will burn the fur off your pooper!!" The plan is to BBQ sooon. I'll let you know how it goes, unless that's TMI.

Here's some numbers:
25 Kph, average speed overall on a hilly, windy course. Last year, same route, similar wind, average speed was 23 Kph.
78 average cadence
127 bpm, average heart rate overall (I don't believe the number for peak heart rate, so I won't report it)
71 Kph, max speed. This hills on this route aren't that big, and wasn't trying for max speed.

I'm really pleased how this turned out! This is a bit faster than last year for the same route and similar conditions. It was a super day for a ride, nice and sunny. As I said, a bit cool, but I slathered on the sunscreen anyway. You can tell I've been in the sun, but nothing burned. For me, that's as good as it gets. I ate two Clif's bars, except for the one piece I dropped. Hope the ants enjoy it. Drank one bottle of energy drink, and 1.5 bottles of water. This is a bit less than normal, but I didn't sweat at all.

There was one funny thing. I've got a wireless bike computer. If I pedaled, or leaned slightly to the left, the wheel magnet cleared the sensor. If I coasted, it just clicked the sensor. A minor annoyance. I wasn't about to reach down to tweak the position while riding. Otherwise Estela was her normal champ self.

Weekly totals
Swim 1.75 hrs
Bike 6.75 hrs
Run 1.8 hrs
Total 10.3 hrs

Optional Fashion Rant.
(Hoping this doesn't prove I'm a geezer.)
With the nice weather, we're seeing people, particularly women people, out and about wearing less. Being a guy, this is normally good. But what pisses me off is all the clothing adjustments. Look, you knew there was an inch of tummy showing between your T shirt and your jeans. Yanking the T shirt halfway down your ass is not going to correct the situation. The action and result are an eyesore. Look in a mirror first. If you like the look, and have the tummy for it, leave the shirt alone. Better yet, wear a shorter one. If you don't like the look, and especially if you don't have the tummy for it, wear a longer shirt. Please.

And maybe this is normal now, I don't know. But where I come from, teen age girls do not unzip their pants on the sidewalk, reach down the back to make (mercifully hidden) adjustments, then zip up again. I'm not kidding.

Low waisted pants. You don't see these quite as much as you used to, which is good and bad. Every woman has some padding where the waistband of those pants go. Now, attend me carefully. There is a big difference between the slight dent in toned flesh that such pants make, and a muffin top. The slight dent is fine. Slightly, very slightly more, depending on a bunch of variables, is ok too. But we don't want to see the muffin top. Period. If it isn't toned, hide it. End of story.

And not all guys believe that bigger is better in the boobs department. If you pass the pencil test, a bra is optional. Very optional. Please, and thank you. If not, wear the frigging bra.

You guys don't escape. Unless it's the beach, or unless you passed the audition for the Hot Stuff Firefighters calendar, wear a shirt. We don't want to see your muffin top either. Or styled chest hair.

I understand the theory that boxers sometimes slide around a little, and depending on the style of jeans, a little of it might show at the waist. Regrettable, but we can cope. Tuck your shirt in outside the boxers. But adjusting the belt and or suspenders so that waist is below the butt is out. Right Effing OUT! Are we clear on this?

It's only April. We've had only a few nice days so far. I can't help but wonder, and dread, what's in store when it gets hot out.