Perhaps the single most important element in mastering the techniques and tactics of racing is experience. But once you have the fundamentals, acquiring the experience is a matter of time.
Greg LeMond
In other cycling news, I finally got my Twin Six jersey! Took long enough…
(I’ll model it soon, promise!)
Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There’s something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym.
Bill Nye, the Science Guy
Kudos to Mayor Daley for making Chicago a safer place to be a cyclist! I’m not out on the streets yet (it’s way too cold/icy/snowy!), but when sprintime comes around, I’m happy to know that my bicycle commute will be a little bit safer. Well, either it’ll be safer or the people who make it unsafe will have to pay up!
Daley introduced an ordinance to slap fines ranging from $150 to $500 on motorists who turn left or right in front of someone on a bicycle; pass with less than 3 feet of space between car and bike; and open a vehicle door into the path of a cyclist.
Check out the story at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-councilfeb07,0,4949760.story
Athletes are sexy. Cross-training just does nice things for sculpting the body. But here’s a question: is cycling gear sexy?
I was thinking about this when I was trying on cycling shorts. I’m pretty sure that spandex flatters almost nobody. Plus, the padding in the butt? I know it’s functional, but come on…that’s not hot. Is it?
Post your answer in the comments (the little Javascript poll I created was rejected by WordPress for some reason):
Ok, so my bike is pink. My gloves are pink. My socks are pink. My racing underwear is pink (too much?). And now….
I have a pink helmet. It’s a Giro, it was on wicked sale (30 bucks! Incredible!), and it matches my bike.
[photo coming soon]
I officially LOVE the off-season. The sale prices are phenomenal, and even allow a poor student like me to buy a trainer and a fancy pink helmet and a few new pairs of shorts and still be able to eat.
Pain is good because it teaches your body and your soul to improve. It’s almost as though your unconscious says, “I’m going to remember this, remember how it hurt, and I’ll increase my capacities so that next time, it doesn’t hurt as much.”
Lance Armstrong
On a related note, the bike still makes my butt hurt. I’m aware that this is because I wore basketball shorts on my most recent trainer session, and because basketball shorts don’t have any cushioning value, but oww. Of course, the only thing to do is log more hours on the trainer.
Every day, I’d go to the gym to work out with George, and we’d sit side by side on the stationary bikes. One afternoon, George said, “Got any tape?”
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m ripped,” he said, and made a muscle.
Lance Armstrong, from Every Second Counts
In related news, I’m starting that group cycling class this week. Finally!
It’s that time of year. The beginning, that is. Resolution time. I actually managed to achieve all of my 2007 resolutions (including run a 1/2 marathon and then a full marathon by the end of the year), so I’m hoping that 2008 will be just as successful. Here’s the list:
Looky, looky:
Ok, so the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets aren’t anything new, but this one is new to me! My old one broke a while ago, and I finally have a new one.
I haven’t always been Lance’s biggest fan - let’s be honest, I didn’t really think about cycling much at all until I decided to do a triathlon - but I’ve always thought LAF & those little yellow bracelets were great. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for a cause, maybe it’s because they’re yellow, I don’t know. I was in need of some new train reading a few months ago, and Cap lent me his copy of It’s Not About The Bike. It went from train reading to lunchtime reading to commute-home reading, and I finished it in one day. I was totally absorbed in Lance’s story. Before I read it, Lance Armstrong was just some dude who had won the Tour de France an obscene amount of times - a really good guy who survived cancer and started that thing with the yellow bracelets. And now? I’m in awe. I just finished Every Second Counts, and I’m about to start No Mountain High Enough. Lance Armstrong, you have a new fan.
Want a LIVESTRONG bracelet? They’re a dollar. http://www.livestrong.org/
Happy Christmas, everyone! I hope Santa filled your stockings with lots of nice toys. I found some fabulous tri-themed goodies under my tree this year:
Insulated water bottles At first, I thought Cap was trying to suggest that we take the bikes outside this winter, but then I remembered that insulation works both ways. These bottles keep cold drinks cold. I’ve always been a fan of cool or lukewarm water over ice cold, but Cap reminded me that my 70.3 is at the end of July, and in addition to keeping hydrated, I’ll need to keep myself cool (Chicago Marathon, anyone?).
A bike computer Definitely something that I needed, but wouldn’t have bought for myself anytime soon. I’d held off on buying one of these because my focus was on keeping my balance, figuring out the gears, and getting used to being in the saddle. Tracking my stats seemed like a secondary objective. But, now that I have a computer, I’ll have the equivalent of my Nike+ for the bike – I can log cadence, wattage, and mileage, and I’ll be able to set benchmarks for my training.
A wetsuit My parents are fabulous. When I told them a year ago that my New Year’s resolution for 2007 was to do a half-marathon in May and a marathon by the end of the year, they thought I was crazy. They know I’m stubborn, but didn’t entirely expect me to train for either event, much less finish. How do they feel about 2008’s resolution of a 70.3? Well, they’re making sure that I won’t be too chilly during that swim in Lake Michigan! They’re coming to visit at the beginning of January, and we’ll be going wetsuit shopping.
A day planner La Roommate got me another something that I wouldn’t have picked up myself, but which will be super super valuable – a pretty little day planner made by Graphic Image. I just filled in the dates of the races I know I’m doing in 2008 (Flying Pig Marathon, Spirit of Racine Triathlon, Chicago Marathon), and I’ll be using the week-at-a-view agenda to log training stats. Sure, this info goes in my Outlook, but I like to have a hard copy of everything, too! This particular planner also has maps of major cities, so if I decide to go for a run in Prague, or swim off the Gulf coast, I can log those. Oh yeah, and the cover is shiny.
[I’m writing this away from home, so I don’t have everything in front of me right now. I’ll update this post later with specs and photos]
We’re Jenny and Kayleigh, two cousins who are training for assorted events leading up to (eventually) an Ironman triathlon. This blog exists to keep us in check and (sometimes, when we remember to) log our training. We’ll also post about events, nutrition, fitness apparel, and anything else we can think of that relates to running, biking, and swimming.
