Fit

"This is going to hurt."

That is the exact thought that went through my mind when the car, whose value was less than my wheels pulled out in front of me while I was descending a hill at 35 mph.  It was July 2011 and I was on my way to a family cook out on my wife's side.  In fact I'd just passed her aunt's house and was so looking forward to arriving at the party and getting in the pool.

Suffice to say our plans changed that day.

Madone 5.2 OCLV 2006, Shimano Dura-Ace gruppo, Bontrager Race XXX Lite components, this was a "real" Madone.  The year after this all Trek's were branded as Madone's.

There was nothing I could do except slam into the car.  I was wearing a cycling kit that day whose primary color was red.  The girl who hit me claimed that not only did she not see me, but that I did not attempt to brake.  Uh huh, that is what she said as written down in the police report.  I went into the driver side rear quarter panel, was thrown up and over the car and landed in the road.  Thankfully no one else hit me and a former ER nurse was one of the motorists who saw what happened and helped me.

I was lucky that day in many ways.  First and most important I lived.  Physics dictate that a cyclist will always lose against a car.  In my situation I lost but at the same time I won.  The end of my ring finger was broken and I quickly removed my wedding band so that it would not cause any issues.  I also got my HR strap off asap knowing they'd cut it off at the hospital.  And the only other injury was a nasty gash in my right knee that came within millimeters of the bursa layer.  Had that gash been deeper I'd have gone into surgery.  There was some minor road rash too.  Ultimately I walked out of the ER that day.  A win right there for me.

The second way I was lucky, was that the Concord, NH, Police Officers who arrived on scene understood the bicycle laws in NH and knew not only did I have the right of way, the right to take the lane based on my speed but that the motorist did not yield to me and just pulled out right in front of me - she was at fault.

Again all too often the police are ignorant of the law and side with motorists.  So much so that motorists can actually kill cyclists and get away with just a slap on the wrist.

The Madone 5.2 after the accident.  The steerer tube blew out the head tube.

The other way that I was lucky was that I took the wrecked frame to a Trek Store that actually knew about the product they sold.  The driver had a Progressive as an insurance carrier.  I'd had Progressive as my insurance carrier once and knew how cheap they were.  Something that was confirmed by an old friend of my mum who upon hearing about the accident warned me about them.  This person ran an auto body shop with her husband and had lots of first hand experience.

Let's put it this way, Progressive spends more on their commercials then they do on customer claims.

The Progressive rep first claimed she was a triathlete, a claim that seemed dubious when she scoffed at the total value/ cost of my Madone.  FYI, it was in excess of $10,000.  Now I did not buy it all built up like that, no, I upgraded parts over time to get it to what I wanted.  Then she went and used a NH bike shop, that has 3 locations - Concord, Nashua & ??? and it became apparent that the staff there did not know anything about the product they sold.  I wasn't surprised because the shop in question wasn't worth going too.  They've been around awhile, but that is all they have going for them.

So the Trek store had to argue that while yes Trek did make the 5.2, mine was closer to the 6.2 because it was made here in the states using the OCLV process and a bunch of other factors.  The rep stalled.  But then something happened.

The Adjuster Progressive sent to the Trek store saw the busted frame and said, out loud so everyone heard, "wow he's not in hospital."  That's right it wasn't a question, it was a statement of surprise.  After he left I got a call from the Trek store saying I should expect a check from Progressive soon.  I then got a call from the rep I was dealing with and she confirmed that.  Full value for the bike.

After that I dropped the ball when it came to the pain & suffering part of the compensation from them.  I ought to have fought for more, because they fought me on what I deserved and ultimately I took about the same amount I got for my bike.  I realize now I should have gotten double or triple that.  Not because it'd have been a pay day, but my life was worth more than my bike was.

So once that was all done and dusted and the check was in hand and cleared I got to have the most fun in bike shops ever.  I literally was able to get whatever I wanted and finally settled on a Cervelo S5.

Cervelo S5, base model frame, Zipp 404 wheels, SRAM Red grape, FSA K-Force Light Crank, 3T cockpit, Selle Italia saddle

When my wife & I got married we brought our bikes with us on the honeymoon.  On the way to Cape Cod we stopped off at Landry's Bicycles, Natick, Massachusetts, a bike shop I'd discovered the year before and had grown to love right away.  I'd recently bought a new saddle for the Madone and was having trouble with it.  The bike fit guy, Andy, helped me out and suggested I get a bike fit done, a real proper one.  So we scheduled one for the day we were coming home.  

At first, it felt weird riding in the new position that Andy put me in, but then something happened.  It became natural to me and I noticed a subtle change in my power output and performance.  Well when I got the S5 I knew that I'd also get a bike fit.  Andy had upped his game in the interim and had some new tools and toys with which to fit a rider to their bike.  

One of the items he now used was a pad that an individual sat on and mapped their sit bones.  It's how I choose the saddle in the picture above and as a result something marvelous happened.

By the time I got the S5 it had been nearly 2 months since I'd been off the bike.  My weight had gone up due to stress eating and because I had to let my body heal I'd not done any gym work.  I rode 75 miles that first day.  My wife played the roll of sag wagon that day.   I rode as far as I could and then had her come get me.  I hurt all over except one place - my ass.  That saddle fitting meant I got the right saddle for me and thus it supported me where I needed it, etc. etc.

Whenever I see cyclists on group rides that are shaking their hands out or shifting etc on the saddle I know they haven't gotten a bike fit.  They just set it up the way that someone thought it should be set up.  There's an old school mentality about slamming the stem so there is no space between it and the frame - like how most pros bikes are set up.  IT looks cool, but not everyone can ride in that extreme a position nor should they. 

The point of a bike fit is to maximize your position to get it dialed in as best as possible, while still maintaining your maximum power.  I've had Andy update my position a few times.  The first was when I put aero-bars on the S5.  April - October, the S5 is a commuter rig and I wanted to get to work as quick as possible, so having aero bars meant I could get into a Time Trial position and be more aero and faster.  Well I had to have Andy adjust my position to account for those bars and to make sure I was aero as I could be and still put out power.

Thanks to Andy I found out that one leg was shorter than the other.  That's another thing the bike fit helped with and explained why for the longest time I could not ride without holding the bars.  One result of the bike fit was I could now ride sans handlebars because I was completely balanced on the bike.

In the spring of 2015 I went and visited a chiropractor who got my legs to within millimeters of one another and I've done a lot of work since to close that gap.  So Andy adjusted my fit again and it got me lower.

Here I am at Landry's Natick, Andy is off to my right looking at the monitors I am looking at, he's got 2 cameras pointed at me.  My wife is taking the picture and took note of the gal behind me checking my back side out...

Cycling is expensive and I am always stunned by the folks who will spend thousands on wheels, frames, etc.  Yet, will still adhere to old school notions of how a bike should look.  Or they balk at spending a few hundred to get fit.  The bike fit was the best money I have ever spent.  And now as my wife is looking to get a bike this spring, her getting fit is not even a question.

If you have more than one bike and are fit to both, then it's amazing you don't even notice a difference when you ride them.

Since I started taking Pure Vitamin Club Magenesium my flexibility has increased A LOT.  No seriously it has.  Since I saw that Chiro, I've been doing the flexibility stuff she prescribed, but I was literally stuck at a certain point.  But now I can actually  get into child's pose.  So perhaps later this year I'll pay another visit to Andy and see if I can get lower.  It's all about next steps...

Call & Response

My lovely wife has of late become something of a blogger.  Her writing is fantastic.  No really it is, everyone that reads her work says that first thing after finishing her latest offering.  The most recent work delves into what it is like to be married to an avid cyclist.  Although not sure if she uses the word avid, but that's a key descriptor.

She had me hooked long before I found out the night we met that she wanted to do triathlon.  Right away I could see she was funny, smart & beautiful.  And that she had a horse was not a problem whatsoever, because horses are probably just as expensive as cycling can be.  So it made arguments for expensive wheels, all that much easier.

I loved what she wrote and told her as much and that I would do a point by point response to what she offered up.

And with that....

1. Your weekends are probably already planned.  Yep, they usually are.  During the cold months of winter that weekend planning also comes with a stalker like obsession with local weather forecasts.  What's the temperature going to be?  Will it snow on Friday?  Who can watch the kids if need be, etc.  Come spring through fall it's more about planning as it pertains to how many layers are needed and if a rain coat will be tucked into the jersey.

And yes, charity rides will often involve food of some variety at the end of the ride.  In fact you can often judge charity rides based on the food found at the end.  Moreover, I have not gone back to charity rides because of the food they did not offer but had promised.  Food matters to cyclists...

2.  Your pantry will get weird.  Yes you might have big ass jugs of electrolyte sports drink on your fridge for eternity.  But at the same time your pantry might start to resemble something that you wouldn't think it would.  The traditional view of edurance athletes like cyclists or runners needing carbs, carb, carbs, CARBS - is old, outdated information.  Fat is where it is at.

Look at Joe Friel the go to standard for triathlete training, he's paleo and co-authored The Paleo Diet for Athletes.  Or look to Vinnie Tortorich and his podcast, that is free and available via iTunes.  His cohost Anna Vocino has a wicked excellent no sugar no grain cookbook Eat Happy.  Robb  Wolf, Chris Kresser and Loren Cordain are all experts in the field of ancestral health/ functional medicine and talk of and write about how grains & sugars are not the right food for humans to fuel our daily lives.

Fat is what we should be doing to fuel our bodies.  When I was fat adapted I could do a hundred mile ride, eat a meal post ride (steak, veg) and be ready to rock another ride the next day as well as finish strong on the day of the event I'm doing.  Cliff Bars and Powerbars never did that for me - ever.

In 2012 not only did I discover paleo and dropped a crap ton of weight, which saw me tip the scales at a weight lower than that I was at when I got my driver's license in 1992, but my performance on the bike shot up.  So we'll have lots of stuff like sweet potato, bacon, avocado, hamburg, eggs, steak, nuts, etc.  And I'll skip the bread and pasta.

And before you say I can't get rid of bread or pasta!!!  I'm of Italian descent, holiday dinners at the massive rectangular table at my grandparents involved pasta.  I love pasta, but that doesn't mean I need it.

3. The bikes will mysteriously multiply. The formula n+1, where n represents the number of bikes one currently owns is accurate.  However, one thing my wife didn't get to really was that different bikes have different purposes.  For instance I did have a cyclo-cross bike for a bit due to the dirt roads we lived on being impassable in the winter on skinny 23mm road tires.  Last spring I got the bike I plan to use to do the Mt. Washington Auto Road Hillclimb next summer.  The road bike I had prior to this new bike was a bit too heavy even after the component upgrades.  Whereas if all goes well this new bike will be sub 14lbs once it is completely built up the way I want it.

4. They will get hurt.  Yes this is true.  Invest in a good helmet and replace it every two years.  Maybe that is a manufacturer's standard so that you're constantly buying something from them.  But I look at it like an investment in your safety.  Plus it's a Styrofoam liner and that will break down overtime after baking in the sun.

And don't pull the "well I didn't use one as a kid."  If you are even close to my age, you never used a cell phone, dvd player, bluetooth, blu-ray player or the internet as a kid.  I see guys (it is always guys) that are older than me, that probably use that logic but will gladly use other cycling gear improvements like clipless pedals for instance.

It's also true that we will inform our spouses, partners, etc what the status of our bike is before we say what our condition is.

Pro tip:  If you experience road rash, stand in the shower and wet down the bandages first to remove them more easily.

5.The gear is not cheap.  No it is not, but then you want to be comfortable and perform well.  However thanks to the internet you can often find wicked good deals.  The tires you prefer may cost $80/ tire, but you can find them for $35 - WIN!

And some of us are willing to spend hundreds to shave a few grams off the weight of a part of the entire bike.  Those folks are weight weenies.  It's mental, all mental because bigger performance gains can be garnered by dropping body weight.  That being said, you want the best you can get.  For instance the aforementioned new bike has a carbon fiber bar due to the natural vibration dampening effect that carbon fiber has, but the stem is aluminum because the weight difference was a few grams, but several hundred dollars in price.  Next month I'll have a new crankset put on that is expensive but very light and stiff, which is something you want as it means all that force & power you are putting out actually goes into propelling the bike.

Also, if you are gonna drop thousands on a bike, then spend a few hundred to get a professional bike fit.  And whatever you do, don't listen to the moron who says you gotta slam that stem.  Yes it looks cool, but you may or may not be as flexible as the pros and the best position for you isn't going to be the same as the moron who is more than likely ill fit to their bike.  Numb tingling body parts should not occur - it means your set up is not set up properly.

Pro tip: Get a saddle fit.  After the car hit me (as referenced in the blog) I was off the bike for 2 months.  First ride out I did 75 miles and the only thing that did not hurt was my backside because I had a bike fit done that mapped out my sit bones and a saddle was chosen based on that.

6. Tools, tools everywhere.  There are some repairs that are easier said than done.  But that being said, if I can save some dough by doing easy things then I will.   If you have a carbon frame then you'll want a torque wrench, a good one, that has a digital readout.  If you over tighten carbon it will crack and if like me you'll then go through several seat posts/ masts over the course of a few years...

7. Data overload.  Yup, I was the only senior in my high school geometry class full of freshman and sophomores.  As an undergrad I was able to handle statistics.  So there is something to the notion that if the subject is applicable you can do the math, so while I couldn't do it in high school I can somehow do it now.

8. Cars.  I grew up in the 1980s and during that time we didn't use helmets and I would ride my bike to work every day and pretty much every where all hours of the day without lights at night through a summer resort community full of terrible drivers from Quebec & Massachusetts.  Where traffic was so heavy it could take 45 minutes to move 1/2 mile in a car.  I have a healthy respect for cars and understand that physics dictate the car will win everytime.

That being said I am not opposed to confronting a shitty driver or calling the cops on one.  I play a game where I recite random license plates as a memory exercise.  Looking over my shoulder frequently is a habit I do as well so that I am not surprised by a car.  I use a blinking tail light and head lights in the spring when I ride in to work early.

A lot of cyclists now use GoPros mounted on their helmet or bikes to record their rides and errant behavior of motorists.  The reason we have to do this, is because sadly a lot of cops will side with the motorist even if it is apparent the motorist is at fault.  Thankfully in my case when I was hit, the cops who arrived on scene understood the law and my rights and faulted the driver.

Cyclists have the same rights as drivers do and with that comes the responsibility to ride responsibly.  Nothing irritates me more than some moronic ass hat running a red light or doing some other egregious behavior on a bike and irritating a motorist who doesn't differentiate between cyclists.  We are all the same to them.

9. The mess.  Yep, many a time I have come home soaking wet covered in grit or post ride wiped down my chain and cassette and come up with greasy hands.  You do an outside sport were there are no rain days you are gonna come home messy at times.  Bikes are not fine china, get out and ride if its above 40 and raining regardless of the weather.

10. You will be recruited.  And that recruitment can vary from following us to take some photos for an essay contest to win a bike or as a possible support vehicle for a ride of ridiculous length.

And finally here's one last point.

Cyclists are inherently lazy, sure we have no qualms riding 100 miles in a day, but will do whatever we can to remain stationary once on the couch.  Have our 6 yr old go grab a can of seltzer - sure.  The adage among the pros is why stand when you can sit and why sit when you can lay down....

Subtle Changes

The Biggest Loser, has come under scrutiny in recent years for the rapid weight loss during the competition and the subsequent gain of that weight back its contestants.  The spectacle and how many eyeballs Jillian Michaels & Co is really all the powers-that-be on that show truly care about.  Otherwise, the weight loss would be a slow burn, with subtle changes.

And that is where I am at right now, the subtle changes stage of weight loss.  I've lost, since Thanksgiving, 15 pounds total.  And am about to start week 6 of zone 2 training.  The weight has come off primarily to dialing my diet back in.  My body chemistry (and let's face it most others as well) does not do well with grains or sugar.  I have found that I can tolerate dairy, so I am eating full fat and grass fed whenever possible.  If I should only be eating what is correct, shouldn't my food as well?

Don't even get me started about what chickens are fed though...

So zone 2, what is it you may be asking?  Well it means that I took my age, subtracted it from 180 bpm and added a bit extra because I started out a bit fitter than most.  Thus when I am out riding it is all about keeping my heart rate to a max of 144.  When I ride inside, if forced too, it is very easy to keep my heart rate below a max of 144.  Mostly this is because I don't experience hills or rollers when I am inside - go figure.

I did one of those side by side comparison photos too after the second month and there were some changes that definitely were visible.  When I take the month 3 photo next weekend I'll be curious to see what that shows in comparison as well.  

Today I rode a filthy 40 miles.  Filthy because the roads were wet and covered with grit and sand towards the edges.  The back of my Quick Step-Innergetic winter jacket was speckled with stains from the road and my bike was filthy.  But it was a great ride, I reversed the loop I'd been doing because why not and to see if it was easier in this direction.  It was, mostly due to the bigger hills being at the start.

Now doing zone 2 means that on the flats and slight rises below 1% grade I am able to move at speeds near 20mph or above if the grade goes into the negative.  With those conditions, my heart rate might get up near 140, maybe 142 but rarely above that or if it gets closer I ease off and it drops like a  stone.  But when I hit steeper longer climbs I find myself at 144 or higher and the thing is, I don't realize it because it's getting easier.

Now climbing really is about power to weight ratio.  So given I've lost 15 lbs obviously going up hill is getting easier but combine that with the zone 2 training, it is getting really easy to the point where I am really having to back off and coast on uphill sections.

I've got another 8 weeks of zone 2 after this week and I am so looking forward to a few things once I am done with it.  In two months time it will late March heading into April, which means I'll probably put the Zipp 404 carbon wheels back on my s5.  April is when I start cyclo-commuting back to work. April is also when I get my cholesterol checked and annual physical.  Once I've finished the 14 weeks I was told to stick to zone 2, I can begin doing intervals again, which means going hard and then going easy and my commute is so ideal for that.  I'll also ride to my doctor visit that month and if all goes to plan absolutely stun them with my weight.  And it will be the first time this year I go up Mt. Agamenticus, which is several months later than I normally do.

So far so good and the post ride chicken with artichokes, spinach & tomato was fantastic and the addition of the Justin's Maple Almond Butter packet was the icing on the cake...

The Last Goal of 2016

Sometime just after Thanksgiving I committed or rather re-committed to going fully NSNG.  For those not in the loop, that means No Sugar, No Grains - but, but, but you are thinking what about carbs?

You realize that fruit & veg are carbs right?  Furthermore without going into too much boring scientific detail, our bodies cannot handle the carbohydrate load that sugars & grains create and as a result two things happen.  The first is that excess sugar gets stored as fat and not the good fat.  The second thing is that that excess sugar creates the lipids that create the plaque that guns up our arteries.  It's also why your super skinny friend that can eat whatever they want and thus eat twinkies & coke for lunch probably have fatty organs - a condition once the province of alcoholics only.

Recent studies (no links, just google it) indicate that sugar affects the brain the same as heroin or cocaine.  And let me tell you kicking sugar can be rough.  But once you get over that 2 week hump, it gets progressively easier day by day.  As of today, I've been NSNG for close to 1.5 months - my absolute longest stint since July 2012.

So what has happened?

Between Nov 28th and Dec 31st, I lost a total of 13 lbs.  Yes you read that right and before you say well that is because you exercise a lot.  Vinnie Tortorich, a fitness expert and the guy behind the whole NSNG thing will tell that exercise is a poor way to loose weight.  And if you really think about it and look at other cyclists or runners you know, some may be skinny but a lot won't be.  I'm the best example of this, I would ride thousands of miles per year, but would stay the same physically.  It's only when I've eliminated sugar & grains that I have seen any weight loss whatsoever.

All of this is of course leading towards my assault on Mt. Washington in 2018.

The goal this year is to get my weight back down to the low 180s and keep it there.  When I tackle Mt. Washington I hope to be in the 170s and fully in ketosis.  I plan on riding this year fully fat adapted and am working towards that as I train right now in zone 2 for about 6 more weeks.  What that means is that I won't need gels, bars or isotonic drinks.  In fact, all I'll most likely do is put some MCT oil in my bottle at some point during the ride and that should cover it, even for rides in excess of 100 miles.

Anyway, that's where I'm at now.  I am so rededicated to this that I eschewed a birthday cake this year, much to the dismay of my 4 yr old.

The first goal of 2017 is to be down to 195 by the end of January and then near to 185 by the end of February.  I'll keep ya posted.

Targets

A line was drawn in the sand back after Thanksgiving and my vacation that week.  To say that I felt miserable might have been an understatement.  Fatigue, headaches and aches populated my days at various times and each occurrence was easily correlated to something I put in my mouth.  Some folks might roll their eyes and just say I'm being silly or imagining it - but I really believe those folks just don't want to admit that maybe they don't need that pastry.

Another marker in the negative column was a group ride I did where I got dropped off the back of the lead group - straw/ camel's back and all that.  

The day after Thanksgiving was when I knew I either had to get serious about NSNG. I've been chasing the dragon since 2012 when I had the best 6 months on a bike I've ever had and probably felt better physically & mentally than I ever had before.  I want to get back there, but I kept fooling myself thinking a taste here and a bite there were okay.  That anything I ate my cycling would take care of.  But that is a strategy for failure.

In the last two weeks I've had two minor slips, but otherwise I've done well with the whole NSNG thing.  I'm starting to feel different and have noticed some slight changes already.

I'll end the year about 1.5k short of my target of 4,000 miles for the year.  Some of that is down to personal choices not to ride on a given day or days.  But a lot of it is down to illness, which looking back on I know a good deal of it was induced by bad choices and putting garbage down my throat.  

The year started strong in January and I ended the month with 300 miles ridden, which is awesome given a lot of it was on the trainer.  And then it all began to unravel.  A broken toe, a lack of miles, gear & kit problems, illness, feet issues, weird face rash things and then came September.

We moved during Labor Day Weekend and maybe I scratched myself on something or maybe it was the accumulated fatigue and stress of the last few years finally coming to roost, but something odd happened.  I got hit by a virus that caused all my joints to feel as though I had just started out powerlifting at full Olympic weights.  I hobbled around for about a week and then required another week to get back to normal.  My immune system was flatlined and I got a cold.  Because of the previous issue the cold lingered longer than it ought to.

With 3 kids, aged 6 & under it is easy to get something from them, but also kind of easy to avoid getting sick from them - that is unless your youngest sneezes in your face and you get covered in gunk.  As a result of that another 2 weeks were lost and an additional 2 weeks of just plain coughing ensued.  September & October were gone, but I did still get some miles in, just not a lot.

Today being Dec 11th, there are only 20 days in the year left and while I'd planned to get a 40 miler in the forecasted temperatures just won't cooperate.  I can ride in the mid 20s F but anything lower and I end up with a lung sear induced cough that hurts and isn't worth it.

That's life.  My hope is that when I do get back on the bike that I'll notice a performance difference as I'm getting closer to the minor year end target I set myself the day after Thanksgiving.  

Little steps, each one like the ingredients of a recipe getting me to the desired end result.

Sick as a dog, what's your story?

It's been a lousy, just lousy couple of months.  If it isn't one illness its another.

Back in mid September a virus of unknown origin took hold in my body.  This mystery virus was brutal in that it reduced me to an infirmed old man.  Just as that passed, I got a cold.  Like any cold it came and went in about 7 days time.

And then my daughter sneezed in my face.  She'd had a cold too.

She's turning 2 next month, so she gets a pass on that sort of thing.  My immune system did not get a pass and now 2 weeks later I finally went through the night and morning without doubling over coughing and producing nasty mucus.

My oldest son started Kindergarten this year.  When he was very young, between 3 - 6 months he went to daycare and then later before his brother was born, he spent time with my wife at a home she nannied at.  So on the one hand the kids never really got sick and got all the bugs their peers in daycare got.  That isn't to say they never got sick.  Bugs were picked up at the supermarket, Target, Walmart, etc. or I'd bring them home from my work.

So now I give myself one week to recover fully and get my strength back and then it's back on the bike/ exercise.  I've been down & out for nearly a month and a half with sporadic riding in that time so I'm at the low ebb of my fitness right now.

The plan is to just ride at lunch outside and ride myself back into something over the next month or so.  I'll ride at lunch until my vacation in January hopefully.  Once vacation is over, I kick into 2017 training full time and more importantly - Mt. Washington Hill Climb training full time.  I'll have more on that last nugget soon.  I don't plan on attempting it in 2017, but I do look to do it in 2018...

Anyway, I'm (fingers crossed, salt tossed, etc) on the mend and that's all I care about right now...

Bonus points to those who recognize the song whose lyric is the post title.

Stumbling Uphill

Well the last week was not good.  There was quite a bit of mindfully eating food I should not.  I'm not happy about it and with each bite I swore this item and that item would be the last.

Sigh, such is life.

Today I'll reboot and start over again.

In other news it would appear based on sunrise, available light and wanting to leave work at close to my normal time that I am done riding in for the year.  While I am a bit let down about that, this fall I was able to ride in for a month longer than normal.

The Wednesday Night Ride in South Berwick is also done for the year due to the available light issue.  We had the last ride last Wednesday and it was a fun 20ish miles.

So what now?  Well, beginning on Tuesday I'll bring my bike & kit to work and head out for a lunchtime ride and try to squeeze in at least 18 miles.  And I'll probably do that until the snow flies.  Not much else to report this week.