The Tour de Kip; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bike Commentary

[Kip]

Leave comments on the blog here.

[Viking Prince]

Back in the days of college -- oh so long ago. I had to work nights and I had classes 8am to noon, slept from noon to 6 pm, studied while at work. I found 6 am swimming with the team to work for me. Every day? Nope. I did get usually 5 days a week though. My formula might not work though -- I dropped after two years! Returned and finished after a bout of real world. The early morning exercise still stuck decades later.

[Selifator]

I plan on getting back on my bike to ride a few rounds in my town, we have a nice park to ride in but with a ripped tire I'm not going anywhere soon. Really have to get to the bicycle repair man.

[Vel]

Hey Kip,
As you may guess from my post count I'm a lurker.. but i signed up to give you some encouragement. Why? Because I see a younger me and you're verging on the danger time. Endurance training is all about regularity and even though you may still love the sport and are still have the desire to train, a couple weeks into any regime and the niggles start settling in. A sore butt, stained calf that you dont want to exert, aching shoulder etc.. its easy to find excuses not to train especially when you have a busy schedule to juggle your training around.

The trick is to find variation (to add spice). If you are focusing on cycling then yes you want to spend as much time as possible in the saddle but temper that with some other form of cardiovascular exercise to balance out your body. Some swimming/running/circuit training interspersed into your riding will activate your other muscles and get you fitter quicker. Plus, for any serious training, proper stretching (im sure you'll know from soccer) or yoga is an excellent compliment on recovery days.

And keep at it man.. I'm not a mad cyclist but i just did the Tour de Timor and I've done some long cycle tours (5 months through europe). Its an awesome mode of transport and in some ways it can become a lifestyle.. one that will make you fitter and less of a drag on this planet

[Viking Prince]

Hey, where is your sense of adventure? Snow never hides sharp pointy objects. Hard packed snow (ice) is not nearly as dangerous as rumors have stated.

Well I shall be looking forward to the big spring break out post.