Four Days Off and Feeling Good

It's a good day. I've been sick for over a week, and off the bike (including indoor rides on the trainer) for four days now. This time of year you have to sneak the rides in whenever you can since you never know when the season will be over, and in spite of the fact that I'm not 100% recovered from an annoying, lingering cold, I decided to do my roundabout commute to work today.

My workplace is less than 1 mile away on completely flat roads, but since last spring I have been exploring increasingly long and convoluted ways of getting to work. My latest and favorite route has me heading up Cascadilla Park Rd. (see picture—this is my favorite Ithaca street, and it makes me think of the Italian Alps), a short, steep and absolutely beautiful road alongside the Cascadilla gorge, then through the Cornell campus, across the campus Fall Creek bridge, then up to Triphammer, past Community Corners to Warren Rd., and then over to the airport, down Dart, past the mall, down Oakcrest to Cayuga Heights Rd., and finally down Sunset and Remington to Lake Ave. and finally the high school. Phew! It's a 10 mile ride with over 800 ft. of vertical climbing, most of it in the first 2 miles. It's a great way to start the work day, and I was already reconciled to the notion that I had already taken this route for the last time of the season.

This morning I discovered that four days out of the saddle can really refresh you and make you somehow feel stronger. I have know idea how this works, but it certainly did in this case. My body is still in recovery mode and I only got 5 hours of sleep last night, yet I felt so good on this ride. I'm puzzled but very grateful for this phenomena.

Since February I have lost 33 pounds without having weight loss as a primary goal. I'm pretty happy about this, since I never thought I could lose this much weight over a number of years, let alone 9 months. I have used Wii Fit almost every day since February, and I think that the weigh-in is a critical factor contributing to this weight loss, as is some changes in my diet and (of course) lots of cycling up steep hills from March until now. At this point, I don't have strong feelings about losing more weight. My primary goals are becoming an even stronger rider and not gaining back any significant weight over the winter months. More than anything, I want to end the outdoor cycling season strong and keep the momentum going for the much less fun indoor cycling season.