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I've been trying to ride _almost_ every day. Partially to try and lose weight, as the bare minimum thing I might accomplish in this tremendous downtime. (especially opportune when combined with the fact that I'm still not drinking soda because of the migraines.. probably down 600 calories a day right there) It's also become really the only activity in my life besides biological functions and staring at this screen.
Anyway, It's roughing me up. I have a saddle sore-junior, mostly from riding my cyclocross bike on trails, and my nipples are again chafed to bleeding, which is mostly due to the fact that all of my jerseys are old - I think the bike clothes companies make the fabric turn to steel wool after a year or two so you buy more new ones.
Last week I got 5 days and 80 some miles in. This week I've almost got 50 already. I seem to be losing about 6 lbs of water per ride (it's really humid here right now) but I'm not losing much other weight. At the same time, I can see more musculature and vasculature in my extremities, so I know at least a little fat is burning off. probably gaining muscle back is offsetting the loss.
The cross bike has been a good change of pace. I ride mostly the same trail over and over, and while it is the closest thing I've ever had to mastery, I'm really at the long tail of not getting much faster or doing anything new when using a mountain bike. I haven't used the cross bike on trails in about 2 years, after I fell and damaged my thumb. I started again last week, and it kind of re-opens the mastery conversation by being different enough that I'm back down the learning curve, but same enough that I'm having fun and not getting frustrated.
There are two difficult features on the trail. One is called "tetanus hill", and is basically a part of an abandoned car, an awkward chunk of concrete, and some wire fence sticking out the side of a levee. It's a steep climb with those obstacles, with not much run-up. The other is similar. Called "chunky monkey", it's a climb with little run-up, over a chunk of concrete and about 3 feet of big roots. These are the two things that I can't "clean" (traverse without stopping or putting a foot down) consistently on the cross bike. I have cleaned each of them at least once on it, but it's still iffy. Maybe that's exciting. I don't even think about them on the mountain bike. Along with this, I think falling the other day was good, because I haven't in a while. While it hasn't been the case in other areas of my life, I feel like falling reminds me that taking risks has rewards.. if I'm not falling, I'm not finding the edge of what I can do.
The cross bike has also reactivated something in my legs. I've had a couple of rides on it, where an hour in, I suddenly can just turn the crank over effortlessly. I don't know if it's muscle memory from when I used to ride it all the time, or if the biomechanics are better or what, but it's kind of nice.
Anyway, It's roughing me up. I have a saddle sore-junior, mostly from riding my cyclocross bike on trails, and my nipples are again chafed to bleeding, which is mostly due to the fact that all of my jerseys are old - I think the bike clothes companies make the fabric turn to steel wool after a year or two so you buy more new ones.
Last week I got 5 days and 80 some miles in. This week I've almost got 50 already. I seem to be losing about 6 lbs of water per ride (it's really humid here right now) but I'm not losing much other weight. At the same time, I can see more musculature and vasculature in my extremities, so I know at least a little fat is burning off. probably gaining muscle back is offsetting the loss.
The cross bike has been a good change of pace. I ride mostly the same trail over and over, and while it is the closest thing I've ever had to mastery, I'm really at the long tail of not getting much faster or doing anything new when using a mountain bike. I haven't used the cross bike on trails in about 2 years, after I fell and damaged my thumb. I started again last week, and it kind of re-opens the mastery conversation by being different enough that I'm back down the learning curve, but same enough that I'm having fun and not getting frustrated.
There are two difficult features on the trail. One is called "tetanus hill", and is basically a part of an abandoned car, an awkward chunk of concrete, and some wire fence sticking out the side of a levee. It's a steep climb with those obstacles, with not much run-up. The other is similar. Called "chunky monkey", it's a climb with little run-up, over a chunk of concrete and about 3 feet of big roots. These are the two things that I can't "clean" (traverse without stopping or putting a foot down) consistently on the cross bike. I have cleaned each of them at least once on it, but it's still iffy. Maybe that's exciting. I don't even think about them on the mountain bike. Along with this, I think falling the other day was good, because I haven't in a while. While it hasn't been the case in other areas of my life, I feel like falling reminds me that taking risks has rewards.. if I'm not falling, I'm not finding the edge of what I can do.
The cross bike has also reactivated something in my legs. I've had a couple of rides on it, where an hour in, I suddenly can just turn the crank over effortlessly. I don't know if it's muscle memory from when I used to ride it all the time, or if the biomechanics are better or what, but it's kind of nice.
