Grumble, grumble...

It's supposed to be spring, and I'm supposed to be back in prime cycling shape, but... OK, maybe it's my time for complaints. And maybe you want to skip this blog entry - but I figure if I get it out then maybe I won't feel the need to bore you with this in person!

I can't do anything about the weather except to accept what dawns every day. Or give in to my desire to escape the northeast and figure out where I really want to live... I'm not quite ready for that, so I guess I just need to figure out how to work with this non-ideal weather - especially on the weekends!

While I'd like to believe I'm in control of my own fitness, I'm not sure that I have total control over that either. It's been almost a full year since my crash, and my expectations (and hope) are that I should be back to my normal self and ready to ride. But am I there? I've looked at and compared my exercise logs from last year and this year, and I'm almost exactly in the same place as far as bicycling mileage goes. Unfortunately my energy levels aren't the same as the levels in my memory. My biggest riding weekend this year was 4 weeks ago. It consisted of 32 miles on Saturday and 38 on Sunday - and was followed by a very tired Monday. Unfortunately the weather has conspired against me since then and the rainy weekends haven't allowed me to repeat that mileage and attempt to extend it. I took last Monday off with the hopes of getting in three consecutive decent days of riding. The weather conspired against me, and the only rideable day of my 3-day weekend was Monday. I had a good but chilly ride along the New Hampshire coast, but Tuesday was a tired day. I am managing to get some riding in during the week though, and I'm sure that is helping. I'm not quite ready to commute to work by bike and be capable of putting in a full days work too, but attempting to get in 15 to 18 mile rides 2 or 3 days during the week has to be helping.

My sister and my mom have both told me I'm being too hard on myself, and it's quite possible that they are right. I just don't want to accept that. And I really want to get back to vacations on my bike. The problem? I need to be able to pull off consecutive days of riding a decent distance, and I don't seem to be quite there yet. I'd like to be able to ride between 50 and 60 miles each day, but maybe I could settle for 40 to 50 to start. I've thought out a tentative long weekend trip to Nova Scotia for the end of June, but I haven't made any reservations for places to stay - or for the ferry - because I'd like to be a little more confident that I am ready for the distances I'll need to bike. Not only ready, but ready to happily get back on the bike the next morning. Maybe I need to check the maps again and see if there is a slightly shorter option. I have a feeling that the problem with my early plans are that they involve 5 days of riding, and the middle 3 days are all about 50 miles. It's a good goal, and it's a good dream, but is it too much? I'd like to plan a longer trip for later in the year too. I'm hoping that late summer or early fall is a realistic goal for that.

It looks like this weekend won't be ideal for riding since rain is forecast yet again. Hopefully I can get some riding in though, and there's a 3-day weekend coming up in just 2 weeks. Hopefully I can use that weekend as my slightly delayed test of whether I can pull off 3 decent riding days in a row. I hate to wait that long to finalize plans for a June long weekend, but I also don't want to make plans that I feel I need to cancel. Last minute travel isn't my usual style, but maybe it will work for me this time...

OK, it that enough of a complaint for today?

I'll keep working, and I'll keep dreaming, and hopefully my dreams and goals of traveling with my bike will be met this year...