Tomorrow or some time after, I'll tell you about the ride I did today. It's another 100K ride, though to a different destination from the one I did the other day.
So, in three days, I've probably done more riding-for-the-sake-of-riding than I'd done a couple of months. My legs have been holding up surprisingly well. Maybe I had more "money in the bank", as an old riding partner used to say, than I realized.
Whatever fatigue I've felt has come from all of the sun I've absorbed on my skin. Even though I've used lots of sunscreen, I now see--and feel--redness on skin that had been the color of Wonder bread for weeks.
All right, so that last description was a bit of an exaggeration. Still, I feel as if the past few days have been a new beginning, at least in terms of my cycling--and writing. Yes, I've been doing some of the latter, and it's not related (at least not obviously so) to this or my other blog.
The only complaint I have is the one I have about cycling here generally: It's flat. Now, it's probably the reason I've been able to do the rides I've done with relative ease. But to really get back into shape, I'll have to start going vertical. And about the only climbs around here are the bridge ramps. Even places with "hill" in their names don't require much more of a change in elevation than the floor of one place in which I lived during my youth.
Speaking of my youth: Yes, I did a fair amount of climbing on my bike. In fact, during my last two tours in France, I pedaled up a few of the fabled Tour de France climbs. One day I will write about them, after I sift through my photos and journals of those rides, the most recent of which I did in 2001.
But for now, I'll share this wry image about the difficulty of such climbs:
Of the peaks mentioned, I have done all except Port de Bales. Perhaps one day I will do them again, or find others.
So, in three days, I've probably done more riding-for-the-sake-of-riding than I'd done a couple of months. My legs have been holding up surprisingly well. Maybe I had more "money in the bank", as an old riding partner used to say, than I realized.
Whatever fatigue I've felt has come from all of the sun I've absorbed on my skin. Even though I've used lots of sunscreen, I now see--and feel--redness on skin that had been the color of Wonder bread for weeks.
All right, so that last description was a bit of an exaggeration. Still, I feel as if the past few days have been a new beginning, at least in terms of my cycling--and writing. Yes, I've been doing some of the latter, and it's not related (at least not obviously so) to this or my other blog.
The only complaint I have is the one I have about cycling here generally: It's flat. Now, it's probably the reason I've been able to do the rides I've done with relative ease. But to really get back into shape, I'll have to start going vertical. And about the only climbs around here are the bridge ramps. Even places with "hill" in their names don't require much more of a change in elevation than the floor of one place in which I lived during my youth.
Speaking of my youth: Yes, I did a fair amount of climbing on my bike. In fact, during my last two tours in France, I pedaled up a few of the fabled Tour de France climbs. One day I will write about them, after I sift through my photos and journals of those rides, the most recent of which I did in 2001.
But for now, I'll share this wry image about the difficulty of such climbs:
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| From Imgkid |
Of the peaks mentioned, I have done all except Port de Bales. Perhaps one day I will do them again, or find others.
