To be a weatherman...

I swear I would be better off looking outside each morning than relying on the weather forecast.  As of yesterday afternoon, it was supposed to rain yesterday and it was supposed to rain all day today and possibly into Wednesday.  Ok, that's fine.  I'll forget about riding my bike until Thursday and just focus on "training" instead.  This morning?  Beautiful sunshine and it's supposed to be that way all day long.  Sigh.  That's enough about the weather.

Speaking of training....  A month of so ago I took a weekend trip with a buddy to Dupont/Pisgah for a weekend of riding.  The trails there were eye opening to say the least.  Not eye opening in awesomeness.  I had been there before and knew the trails were outstanding in comparison to the trails in Charlotte (don't get me wrong, the trail builders do the best they can here but they are just limited).  Dupont/Pisgah was eye opening in terms of the fitness one needs to ride there comfortably.  My buddy and I took a 12 mile loop in Dupont on Saturday and it was a blast.  It also crushed me physically.  Pisgah just added to the pain on Sunday morning.  On the way home, while basking in the happiness of a successful trip, I started to reevaluate myself.  Biking every weekend wasn't enough if I wanted to be good at it and not feel like my lungs were about to stage a revolt.  Enter "training"

This is week 4 of me caring about my fitness again.  The first trip to the gym 4 weeks ago left me sore for days and dreading going back.  Now I'm excited to visit.  I've been going 3 days a week during lunch and trying to get in at least 1 mid-week ride on an off day.  Last Saturday I rode Beatty faster than I ever have, passed some people for once, and didn't stop to take a breather at all.  So I'm starting to see some results and that makes me happy.  But not complacent.

Today is a gym day and I'm going to focus on hip and leg strength as well as some exercises aimed at loosening up the hips.  I've found this has really helped out with the lower back pain I'm used to having from riding.  Unfortunately, every time I look outside, I'm reminded that this would have been an awesome day for a mid-week ride, provided the weather man gave me some correct info.  Sigh.

Gag Me

It's almost 12:30 am ET and I haven't gone to bed like I should have an hour ago.  Sigh.  Work will show no mercy on my poor soul in the morning....  Long hours of writing tedious discovery questions and angry letters are on tap.  Unfortunately, all I really want to do is get out and ride my bike.  But, Charlotte has turned into Seattle over the past week so that would be a no go even if I had the time.

I guess my minor fun tomorrow will be a lunch time trip to the gym.  Gotta get ready for some Shining Rock backpacking in a couple weeks and improving my overall "fitness."  Should be a blast...not.

Gag me.