Making Plans, Digging Deep

It's never too early to make plans for the cycling season, so I'm considering taking on five finger lakes this year. Don't hold me to it, but I'm certain that I'll circumnavigate at least Cayuga, Seneca and Owasco this year. Keuka and Canandaigua are the wildcards. I did the Keuka loop back in the late '80s, and really enjoyed that ride, especially the northern dual tip. It's definitely the coolest shape of all the lakes. I've also done Owasco once and Cayuga at least eight times.

The multicolored lines in this picture represent my finger lakes area rides from last season, and it's immediately apparent that I did lots of repeat treks, especially around Lansing, Dryden and Ellis Hollow. There's a certain comfort in repeating well-worn routes, and this also allows you to assess your performance from one day to another and focus on improving hill climbs. On the other hand, I think it's really helpful to get out of your comfort zone and face unpredictable elements, though thanks to online mapping sites like MapMyRide.com and Everytrail.com, you can preview your hillclimbs and be better prepared for the challenges. Still, factors like road conditions and weather are wildcards that alway make road biking exciting and unpredictable.

In the meantime, the winter drags on, and for the first time in many years, I am desperately looking forward to spring and clean, salt-free roads. After taking a few weeks off of the trainer, I grudgingly climbed on the trainer twice in a week. This morning I pushed really hard, and burned 660 calories in 35 minutes, averaging 160 bpm. My plan has been to stay in form so that there's hardly a transition to the road bike season, and I'm confident that I will succeed, after all, my first ride last season was March 20th! Yeah, it was an anomalous spring, but I'm hopeful that I'll get at least one or two rides in before April 1. I continue to study the accuweather 15 day projection tea leaves every day, looking for a sign.