Mood:  caffeinated

I haven’t blogged in awhile – between work, parenting and the ongoing home remodeling I haven’t had the time or energy for “recreational writing”. 

My buddy John and I have been cycling together on weekends.  We have a relatively car-free training route (you can view at http://www.livestrong.com/loops/prairieville_steve_s_38_mile_alligator_bayou_loop-I25BaeDLFJ ) that takes us from my house out Manchac Road to the River Road, turns north and loops around to Gummers Lane, then back to the River Road and return.  Lots of other cyclists use this route.  Mileage is just shy of 40 miles, which makes for a good Saturday morning ride of under two-and-a-half hours at our average 16 to18 mph pace.  Conversely, I’m not training during the week like I did last year and earlier this past Spring.  April started attending Third Grade at Elite in August, so we’ve been getting up at 5:30 a.m. in order to get her to school by 6:50 a.m.  That means she’s normally home before I am in the evenings, so no more after-work time-alone for either the wind-trainer or “beer rides”.  Fortunately, my lack of weekday training hasn’t adversely my speed – if anything, I’ve gotten faster from having to keep up with a younger guy who regularly works-out and rides a lighter, more modern bike.  My quads have gotten bigger and firmer – now if I can just drop another 10 pounds and lose what’s left of my “spare tire” I’ll really be in great shape. 

What else?  I’ve pretty much talked myself out of wanting a new bike.  When John got his carbon fiber Cannondale Synapse this past Spring I briefly caught “new bike fever”.  I looked into getting a hi-tech, brifter-equipped, index-shifting, umpty-speed carbon fiber wonder, but the more research I did the less enthusiastic I became about hanging-up my dependable ol’ steel-frame, friction-shifting Ciocc.  My Ciocc turned 25 years-old last April, but with the upgrades I’ve made since I started riding again (i.e., Kelly “Take-Offs” shifters, Selle SMP TRK saddle, etc.) the seeming advantages of a new bike simply aren’t all that.  Besides, I dropped John on the home stretch of last Saturday’s ride for the first time since we started riding together and felt like I could have gone another 10 miles. 

I learned a long time ago that it isn’t the bike that matters most, it’s the motor.  I just have to be reminded of that lesson once in awhile, that's all.