It pains me...

Yesterday's little stint on the expresso bike at the gym got me charged up to get back on my road bike. As I left the gym, I had an urge to grab my friend Gwen and ride out to Etna (35 miles away) have dinner and a beer and ride back. The weather is what stopped me. Plus I've never ridden that far. Maybe if some one were to pick us up...

The farthest I've ridden on my bike is 26 miles. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't very hilly either. There's mountains in between Montague and Etna and that makes the ride a little tougher. I'd really like to ride the San Diego Christmas Ride which is 400 miles over 6 days. Any takers? It'll be fun!

In order to get there, I've got to do some long rides. There's plenty of Century rides (100 mile rides) in the summer, but cycling season is typically April through November...pretty much the same as fire season. Lame. But for good reason I suppose. Who wants to ride around all day in rain and snow? Not me. Although I saw somewhere a jacket or pants for cycling that had a protective area for the infamous splash crack you end up with while riding in wet areas. Maybe I just need one of those.

This is certainly not the first time my job has taken me away from an activity I love. The last few places I've lived have been severely lacking in the swimming arena. I've given up swimming. You heard me. Ok, not enough to actually get rid of my suit and goggles, but really it's not very practical to swim up here. I'd have to drive almost an hour to the pool...one way! Not gonna happen. So I took up cycling. Hmm.

There are rides in April and November (and even December as you can see), I'll just have to train on my own and sometimes indoors. That's why I was so enthralled with the expresso bike, but it's way too expensive. So I thought I'd invest in some good cycling videos to train with. Not spin videos, cycling videos. There aren't a whole lot of those either, being as cycling is generally an outdoor sport. But I did find one that looks particularly interesting. Sufferfest offers some grueling cycling videos that are made to look like real life bike races, using video footage from world championships and the olympics, along with taunting smack talk and bits of encouragement. I think I'll have to give it a try. We're moving from our snowy season to our rainy season, and I've yet to commit to cycling in the rain.