If it wasn't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all

So today, Megan and I scrambled to meet up for a quick road ride tonight. We both were running a few minutes late from work but made it to the house with about a 45 minutes to ride. Within the first few minutes of the ride, my rear tire flatted. We opted to not continue the ride and ended up doing some pretend tight pack riding in the backyard. Oh well. It was a good idea in theory.

Solo Training

Unfortunately, I've been down a cycling partner since the big kidney "incident". Fortunately, however, I'm still really enjoying the training. For the past 2-3 weeks (essentially since the temps in Boston have been breaking 40 degrees on a daily basis), I've been out in the saddle 3-4 times a week. I'm gradually building up in mileage and went for a 30 mile ride today....alone. Frank did get out on the bike today but did so in the sheltered environment of Wompatuck State Park, doing laps for about 14 miles, where I met up with him at the end of my ride. He was itching to go further but, well, doctors orders.

The tentative plan is to add on about 10 miles a week for each "long ride". Turns out the South Shore is an AMAZING place for cycling. My recent rides, including my ride today, have taken me down beautiful colonial main roads, past 1700's farmhouses and orchards, along a rocky coastline dotted with Victorian mansions, and through a 3,500 acre state park. I hope these roads never get boring. So far so good.

We've also been "gearing up" for the ride in other ways. A trip to Wheelworks Bike Shop in Belmont this morning scored us some necessary goods...and also racked up a $500 bill. Yikes. I finally realized that my mountain bike shoes and pedals weren't quite cutting it so we finally invested in some real road shoes for me (on sale). Other items included a pair of knicker length tights, a sleeveless jersey, extra water bottle cages (we need 2 for the longer rides), and some socks. Pedals are in the mail.
A bike and cleat fitting are next to get me in good form for the tougher training.
We'll keep you posted...
Megan

Training Delay

I took last Friday, 4/4, off to go skiing with Megan. Even though she is cool with me snowboarding, I like to take out the skis every once in a while. I guess old habits die hard. Anyway, we were up at Waterville Valley enjoying a mellow day at the mountain. It was actually snowing up there as well. I saw a nice barrel hit in the distance, and my plan was to ollie up on to it, bonk it and jump off. All of a sudden, BAM... I lost a ski and somehow found myself on the ground, groaning holding my left side. At first I thought i had knocked the wind out of myself, but really it was just some pain on my left side. No biggie right? I've slammed hard a bunch of times. My pride was stinging but that was probably due to the skier that came up to me and said "are you ok?". I had to go to the ER after we drove home then was transferred to Brigham & Womens in Boston and admitted for the weekend. It turns out that I shattered my kidney, in addition to bruising my left lung. My exercise program is significantly restricted. I was told "You can ride your bike... just don't fall off. Or if you fall, fall to your right side." Right... that's easy enough. The full report can be read here.

My plan right now is to start slowly on the basement trainer and then in a few weeks get back on the bike. The tough part is yesterday was 65 degrees and sunny here. The sacrifices I make to be a jumping idiot monkey. I guess I can just be happy I'm not Jan Ulrich, Lance Armstrong's former archnemsis. Ulrich was just fined $1MM Euros (that's $1.6MM) in a doping fraud case. Megan on the other hand has been racking up the miles.