I was totally going to post about how I aspire to be awesome enough to get “invited” to Interbike by a sponsor, but Dicky beat me to it. So, instead, I figured I’d talk a little about the off-season.

Life has been pretty laid back for the past few weeks. Outdoors, Inc is still a really great place to work (though Jason is gone now, which sucks), and I’ve mostly been taking days at a time off the bike or just doing ~1hr easy rides. Looking at the upcoming schedule on Training Peaks, though, I can see this off time slowly winding itself up into full-blown, zombie-inducing training.

I’ve started lifting now. Unlike the last person who coached me (back before my roadie nervous breakdown), the Wizard and I seem to see eye to eye on developing an off-season lifting program. I’ve been to the gym twice this week, and, even though it’s been all pretty light stuff, I’m pretty freaking sore. Hopefully by January, I’ll have half the guns of Selene Yeager (who I’ve unofficially named the “LVG” of mountain biking), and I’ll be needing that alloy Niner handlebar because the carbon Easton that’s on there now just won’t be stiff enough.

I’m also hoping that I’ll need that bar because it’s specially made to jive with the A9C frame geometry… but that’s another post.

Tomorrow is going to be my first ride of any substantial length since Shenandoah. I’m not expecting it to be too incredibly fatiguing- it’s just a 3 hr endurance ride, but I’m guessing that if my off-season starts with 3 hr rides that it can only get more difficult from there. I can’t say I’m not looking forward to it.

As a side note, alcohol and I have been taking a break from each other lately. We needed our space. Side effects of this have been better sleep as well as a couple of pounds missing on the scale. I like being realistic, so I won’t say I’m not ever going to drink again. I’m just saying that I finally realized that it was time to cut back from “very enthusiastic beer enthusiast” to just “occasional beer enthusiast.” So far, it’s worked out well for me. I feel odd saying this around the sponsors, because I know they keep an eye out here, but I figure that a lot of my audience reads as a sort of “vicarious living” kind of thing, and more than a couple can identify with recognizing that it’s time to slow their roll on any particular habit. To you, I raise my glass (of water).

Yeah, deliciously cheesy. I know.