Out with the old and in with the new...well at least for a little while.

Even though the off season is starting a couple weeks earlier for me this year, I am still looking forward to it. This year I will try things a little differently. For the next few months my training will revolve around running, yoga, weights and the weekend adventure ride(s). No need to be shy about it but I don't mind being told what to do...so I will follow a structured training regiment for a half marathon. This plan is three fold. 1. The plan is laid out for me to follow in a way that I enjoy. 2. The duration is long enough to safely train for a half marathon, keeping me outside, that by the duration's end, it will be about pre-season, or base. 3. The half marathon is not so physically strenuous that I will be unable to do core work outs and yoga, as well as my adventure rides on the weekend.
Last year I rode all but one week in the winter and even though that was (ahem) cool, I do not see my self repeating the same.

Watch me do really bad next year..oh well

"Sans tourner autour du pot," welcome to the off season. Mmm do I smell cookies?

No Zones No Worries

As I am writting this I am sitting with my lovely wife, Valerie, watching Check Please on WTTW

http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,5

I am thinking how cool it will be to go to all these restaurants that are reviewed (well at least the good ones). In the future I will ride there and meet her, or ride with some friends to grab some chow. So drop me a line when your stomach growls.

But for the real reason I am sitting here typing is to share how nice it is to just ride in the "off season." No worries about time in zones or numbers of power and on and on. Just you and the bike. Well at least for me. This time of year is great for exploring new routes and never saying nay to a detour.

Today I finally connected some trails that I had wanted to for a while. The Salt Creek Trail to the Prarie Path to the Great Western Trail back to the Prarie Path for a 3.5 hr fixed gear ride with out the "out and back ride" that I am always trying to avoid. I am putting on the GPS on the old bike tomorrow to share every new route.

In The Land Where Fatties Fit Fine

Since I strained my back and neglected to train I have bowed out of the last CYCLOCROSS RACES of the Season. Man I love cyclocross but to keep sane I am trying to explore as much as possible in the pancake land of Illinois.

I live 20 miles west of the city, which is actually not a bad place to be at all. This is the begining of a series of rides through the winter and spring where I will find historical routes, places and learn more about where it is that I live.

This weeks edition is the introduction to the Surly Cross Check and the 700X45 WTB Mutanoraptors wrapped around some Dt Swiss Touring Hoops. The bike is perfect for off road adventures.

This bike is set up as a fixed gear 38x18. The crankset is from Sugino. I had a dura-ace 7801 crank but with the external bb I ended up wearing out (bb) more than I changed my undies. So I left out the bling and went with durable. The handlebars are WTB road/mountain bars. Awesome, incredible leverage, and when you run a ss you need what ever power you can get going up hills. The brake levers are from Shimano and the saddle is a Fizik Gobi and posted up with a Thomson Seatpost that matches the thomson Stem.

Excuse the long introduction and unfortunatly there is no real story to report except the Cenntenial Trail is closed westbound from Lemont till March 2009! Hmm... that only mean I will have to find a detour.

Mmmmm Food....

Giving Thanks is an Understatement!