Rain

Nothing is more unpleasant on a bike than a driving rain storm on the road. Water squishes between your toes while your feet feel like they just gained 20lbs each. The wind in your face turns cold and you actually hope for a hill to go slow and generate heat to renew your spirit to ride. So was the ride today. We like to call these rides "character builders", and every cyclist needs a few to toughen up the soul.

Todays ride was a 60 miler approaching race pace for 70% of the ride. It brought back memories of long training rides watching every heart rate and monitoring every piece of availabl e information to measure fitness. I don't miss it quite honestly. But I did enjoy the satisfaction of a good effort. It is funny how in our drive to one up ourselves, we begin to squeeze out the enjoyment of the activity. I could easily see today's ride going in that direction. The next ride I need to go a little faster for a little farther....and so on. Then one day you wake up and realize you really don't enjoy the activity any longer.

So, hold me accountable. This training is not about getting to the Masters National Championships. It is about getting back to healthy level of fitness to enjoy what God has in store for me ride in June, and hopefully many more rides to follow. But today, I could feel that same old competitive spirit beginning to swell.