Blog maintenance

Whatever it was I was going to say in this post, I've forgotten. I've lost hours in a fruitless attempt to figure out how to respond to several useful and supportive comments I've received. Eventually I gave up, and settled on a different approach. I copied all the comments, and responded to each one in italics. Here are the results:



I'm probably not the best one to post advice on this. I've had down days and what I did was get on the bike and ride anyway. Kind of like say 'Oh no body, we aren't having any of that shit. Get on that bike right now!'. Most times my body just cooperated with my insanity.
Hard to anwer that one specifically, because there are down days and down days. I remember one day I tried that, and it worked. I sort of did that on Saturday, and I think it backfired.

Some days you're the hammer, some days the nail. This is the same no matter the age of the rider. I've had days where my legs just felt like jelly. You just 'spin and grin' and just do a fun ride.
Nice to know, from a guy who rides Centuries!

Do you do any upper body workouts? On off days you could try a little upper body stuff or even light yoga to keep things moving. Rest the legs, but keep the blood flowing.
Yes, I do. About 45 minutes' worth of core exercises. Fifteen minutes to go thru them all one time; I usually go thru them 3 times. If I'm tired, maybe only once. Real tired, maybe not at all. Depends on how badly I feel I need to recover.

I'm struggling to understand the "not about the gear" statement! Ha. For me sadly it's probably 50% gear, 50% athletic achievement. We had a guy in our ride group (sadly he moved away) and he said he'd walk into the bike shop, hold up his credit card and say "MAKE ME FASTER!".
It's like this: A faster bike isn't going to make me stronger, healthier, or more alert. And if my time and/or distance improve, how will I know how much to credit my conditining, and how much the bicycle? This is all about feeling better because I'm in better shape. I'm not racing -- as much as I admire those who do! The six months or so I've put in so far have made me feel a whole lot better... and the bike is the same as it was!

Hugh, are you wearing bike shorts with a chamois pad? With all the hours you are spending on the saddle, you might want to smear some chamois lotion on to protect those tender areas. I think most people apply the lotion to the skin where the body meets the friction areas.
Another friend urged the same bit: chamois pads. So I checked with the local Dick's Sporting Goods and find that there's a liner with chamois pads in it designed to wear under other pants, so I'm going to get me one to wear under my baggy cargoes!


... Hoping to get more proficient in blog maintenance in the near future. Meanwhile, tomorrow I'm back in the saddle, if all goes according to plan, with a 6-mile warm-up followed by a 10-mile "time trial." I'm feeling quite rested, and looking forward to a spaghetti dinner. Thanks for listening.