Winter Cycling: Saved from the Trainer!

After resigning myself to the dreaded trainer, Andy Goodell inspired me to reconsider winter cycling after I read about his ambitious adventures. During the holiday break I broke out the crappy old mountain bike and surprised myself. I guess the hard work is really paying off, because in spite of only being able to use the large chainring (lots of chain slip), I was able to still climb up to Lansing and Forest Home with relative ease.

I started off the winter cycling routine somewhat modestly, but thanks to dry roads and sufficient winter cycling gear I kept upping my distances. On Dec. 26th I rode in 16 degree weather, and managed not to freeze, thanks to my dreamy new mittens and the fact that climbing was involved. On yesterday's ride, lower back pain was a clear indication that the mountain bike wasn't the way to go, so I pulled out the trusty old Miyata 1000 touring bike. I was surprised by how good it felt—it's been almost two years since I rode the Miyata. Then today I decided to test the brand new Mavic Ksyrium front wheel on the 28-year-old touring bike, and it was a truly revelatory experience.

Today was a glorious day, with temperatures in the mid 40s, and after my hillclimb, I met up with a FLCC group organized by Andrejs Ozolins for a short ride to Buttermilk Falls. How great to spend the last day of 2010 on the bike! Final mileage for the year: 5220. It was nice to see Jim, Wayne, Ron, Andrejs and Andy.

Tomorrow's weather promises some rain and continued moderating temperatures, so if the rain washes the salt off the road I'm taking the road bike out on Sunday, my first ride of the new year.

Full-fledged Withdrawal Leads To (gulp) Running!

'Tis the season for cycling withdrawal, and it's never hit me this bad before. Last season I even felt a secret bit of relief when the road salt ended my season, but this year I'm just fit to be tied. While I'm hoping that my 2011 road biking season will start in early May like last year, I shouldn't expect such good fortune. After years of rejoicing at the first sight of snow and celebrating any and every bit of wintery mix, today I confessed to a friend of my hope for drenching rains, followed by several days of sun and warmth. 

Hope alone won't get me through the off-season, so instead I have refined my off-season strategies. The first stage was to save up for a really good wheelset, which I finally picked up last weekend. The new Mavic Ksyrium Elites are sitting in a box under the tree, a marvel of industrial design. The anticipation of testing out what shaving nearly one pound of rotational weight off of my ride will really keep me excited and inspired in the next few months. Comparing the Ksyrium and Aksium wheels side by side, you can really see the differences and refinements, though the Aksiums have held up quite well after nearly 10K miles. Beefier hubs, wider spokes, 18 spokes up front (as opposed to 20 on the Aksiums), and the inter spoke milling are all obvious differences and improvements. I did the math, and the weight savings cost me approx. $45 per ounce, though since rotational weight is evidently three times as valuable as fixed weight, you can argue that it costs $15 per ounce! Either way, I look forward to comparing ride stats next season to see if I can increase my average speeds.

My other off-season survival strategy has been to dramatically increase the cross training. I've been doing a combination of EA active (Wii Fit-based workouts), riding the trainer, swimming and running. I've always hated running, but in the last few days I've noticed some changes. My roundabout walk/jog to school has been supplemented with a 2.4 mile lunchtime walk up Kline Rd to Highland and over to Hanshaw, Devon, and Renwick, a climb of almost 400 ft. After several days of gradually increasing the running, today I ran the whole course. My body is still getting used to the pounding, but as long as the roads stay clear, it's not horrible, and all that fresh air and daylight is so welcome during these short days.