'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.
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4 comments:
Welcome to the darkside. You will be assimilated.
I never thought I would run either. I've only been out a handful of times this year, but did 5 miles on the Black Diamond Trail the other night. I'm just waiting for a little snow so I can try out the used xc ski gear I snagged for cheap.
I think you just need more bikes :)
Ithaca roads stay dry most of the time, so just having a bike that I don't mind getting a little salty keeps me riding year round. Not nearly the same miles, but still about 50 most weeks.
That's a tall order, Steve!
I have a crap mountain bike, but I need something better. It was either new wheels or an off-season bike. Maybe next year...
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