The beginning of the season

So it has begun, the 2012 cycling season. Yes folks, the cold weather, or lack thereof, has ceased, warmth has come and thus biking has begun! Now, my readers (or the lack thereof) may ask, 'But Bradley, winter never came, relatively speaking. So, why did you stop cycling?' While it is true that the winter was very mild it was sufficiently cold to keep me off the road. While 30-45 degrees is more than warm enough to hike it is not warm enough, for me, to get out on the road for a prolonged period. You see, when one cycles the feet are relatively stationary, they are rotating but are not moving themselves. As such, the feet get cold due to low circulation, cold enough to get numb. Thus, I like to  bike only above ~50 degrees. Yes, perhaps I am a wimp.

In the latter part of March I took seven bike rides, six of which were on a route I call 'Baby Bear'; I have 'Mamma Bear', 'Pappa Bear', and 'Mamma's Sister' also. As one might gather, 'Baby Bear', a 20 mile loop, is the smallest route. I do the same routs because I take several measurements during each ride, including heart rate, speed, cadence, elevation, GPS coordinates, etc. Taking the same routs allows me to do a fair analytical comparison of different rides. Anyway, starting with 'Baby Bear' allows my body to get back into shape, and boy did my body need it! There is a rather steep hill on my route; the first time I went up it for the season I thought I was going to die.

This morning I took 'Baby Bear' and I could tell that I was running on all cylinders. When I needed energy it was there, every time.  When I was coming to the proverbial finish line I felt that I could go another ten miles, which incidentally was good (read below). I downloaded all the data from my bike computer and several criteria showed that I was indeed finally getting back into shape. i.e. my average speed went from 15.4 to 16.0 MPH (trust me, a 0.6 MPH higher speed between adjacent rides is awesome).  It was by far the best ride of the season; I felt amazing!

A picture to complete
the awkwardness.

After my rides I am usually plenty sweaty, thus requiring a thorough shower. Luckily I have access to such facilities close to my lab. This morning I was getting ready to head over to the shower when I realized I had carefully packed shorts, a t-shirt, a towel and ... that was it. With horror I realized I had forgotten the most important part of any outfit, the underwear. What choice did I have? Stay in my spandex, all sweaty and gross, go commando, or ride all the way home. As the former two were out of the question I got back on my bike and headed home. As I often do, I concocted an analogy as I thought about this odd experience. Here I was, dirty from a long, arduous ride out in the world, wanting to get clean but having no underwear to change into. I needed to ride home (continue working) to get the complete change. So it is with life. If one is dirty from exposure to the world they must put all things in order, especially in having good support, even if it means working a little harder to get it. Ok ... horrible analogy (horribly funny!). If you don't get it you're better off not thinking about it.