Closing In

As the time to leave for Colorado is closing in, everything is falling into place for the trip. I had a just-challenging-enough three day block of training at the end of last week, which left me with weekend recovery days. I’ve felt lately that my body is becoming somewhat stunted in its fat metabolizing abilities (main symptom- if I go out for a training ride, I feel kinda lethargic until I get 100 or so calories of sugary stuff into me).  So, Saturday and Sunday morning, I did what I’d like to call “Hell on Earth” rides, where I essentially got out of bed, into cycling clothes, and onto my bike before eating anything or drinking any coffee. The goal is to force the body into revving up fat metabolism in order to have the energy for exercise. Like any sort of training, it’d probably work better if I did it more often, but it’s a special sort of suck that makes riding, even for just a low-intensity hour, pretty dreadful. It’s not totally terrible to have a reason to eat extra Gu Chomps during the course of my ride.

That has to be one of my favorite things about not working- I can do longer/harder training outside of the weekend, then spend Saturday and Sunday screwing around doing “weekend stuff.” For instance: I decided we need crepe myrtles in the yard (if you’re from The South, you won’t have to click on that link). Through a fair amount of research, I learned that it’s possible to make new crepe myrtles from cuttings of old ones. And, just my luck, my parents had the exact color that I was hoping for…

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I went to Lowe’s and bought potting soil (even buying in to the special one that’s supposed to be good for this sort of thing) and some rooting hormone powder. Once I was back at their place, my dad took a variety of old/new cuttings, we powdered them, and stuck them into some pots.

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Since I’m about to leave town for a few weeks, my parents agreed to daily watering and care. Hopefully, about the time I’m getting ready for the first cyclocross race of the season, I’ll also have a few crepe myrtles to plant in the front and back yards.

To go back to the whole “going out of town” thing, did I mention that I’M REALLY FREAKING EXCITED?!?!? The high mountains of Colorado are calling me. They felt like a magnet last time I drove out to Fort Collins and beyond for Natz. I prettymuch just had to wave at the giants and their puffy white clouds as I skirted around the outside of them along my way. I’m also extra stoked to hang out with rock star road sprinter Lauren Hall, who I used to race against “back in the day” when she lived in Mississippi. If you live under a “never-pay-attention-to-women’s-road-racing” rock, she’s essentially America’s female version of Mark Cavendish, except she’s not a total wanker. If this petition works, there’s a green jersey with her name on it.

Side note- if you haven’t signed it, then you’re not able to read my blog again until you have.

Of course, along with hanging out with friends, there is that whole “Breck Epic” thing that starts on the 11th. With the seriousness of the racing I’ve done so far this season, it almost feels like a race-cation to me. Don’t get me wrong- I take every race seriously. However, this one is kinda more of a 6-day singlespeed adventure with a party at the end than an “elbows out” barnburner like Trans-Sylvania.

Epic times are afoot!