Riding...Outside!

So, readers, a good thing has happened to me recently.

No, I'm not engaged.

No, I didn't win the lottery.

Nothing as nearly as cool as those two possibilities, but nice none the less.

You see, being a bit of a Nancy-boy when it comes to riding outside, I've been slacking in terms of my preparation for the upcoming season. I have pretty poor circulation in my feet, and despite various efforts to augment the situation through toe warmers, booties, chemical hand warmers and various combinations of the three, I've had trouble saving my feet from the discomfort of low blood flow and cold induced numbness. So, as of Saturday, I pretty much abandoned the idea of actually feeling good from the ankles down. Feet be damned, we'll worry about the consequences after the ride.

So, the last 5 rides I've been on have all been outside. That doubles my yearly total up to this point. Many people will find this pathetic, and I can't say I disagree with them. However, it seems that not all is lost. I've managed to trim a kilo of muscle and lard off by pudgy little body over the winter, and am coming into racing season within a pound of my lowest racing weight from all of last year. And I think I can stand to lose another 2, maybe 3kg this year. Crazy.

The biggest surprise, however, is my sustained wattage output. The few people that actually read this know that I have a decent w/kg ratio, and like most, I'm aiming to improve that every season. My first non-neighborhood test effort went down yesterday, into a headwind, north and west of town. "Spinning" 100rpm in the little ring, who knows what cog. Not only a personal best for this time of year, but an overall PR. And, even better, in my eyes, is my ability to ride tempo at a level that would have drained the batteries quickly last year.

In the end, it seems that all of those hours spent staring at a computer screen, churning away on the rollers, were not wasted. I've come to accept the indoor watts for what they are, and not worry too much about them. My goals for the season, after several good rides in the last 5 days, at least in terms of the numbers game, have been revised, and my racing focus might shift as my form builds...

...A few less 100km crits, a bit more climbing...