Finally a Forty

Before I get to the business at hand, let me just say I hope the steak someone was barbecuing last night, up on Armstrong, tasted as good as it smelled. I was just riding along when I passed through the scent; a second after I noticed it, my mouth started making involuntary chewing movements and num-num sounds. It was mesmerizing, but when I snapped out of it, and back to the ride, I realized the only thing in my mouth was the leather of a sweaty, lube and dirt begrimed cycling glove - yuck.

 

So, yeah, a forty mile ride, only the second at that distance in the past thirty days. What's worse than that dismal statistic though, is the effect a whole lot of short distance rides has had on the muscle memory of my legs. I may not be using that term - muscle memory - quite correctly, but it is what I call the thing that bothers my legs, particularly this time of year. During the winter, the weeks become filled with rides of 16, 18, 20 or so miles in length; mountain bike rides, road rides, it doesn't matter, they are almost exclusively in that range, and the muscles tend to get used to those distances, so much so in fact that, during the past couple weeks of evening loops, by the time I have got to about twelve miles that lactic acid built-up is already screaming.

Fortunately, I know it is only temporary; combating that short ride muscle memory can be as "easy" as pushing the pace during the short rides, and increasing the mix of longer rides - the one can be done any time, and the other, well, that is just a matter of setting aside enough time. With the evening sky showing a lightness to it now, when I head out the back door at the end of the work day, the opportunities for more long rides should be improving soon enough. 

Omar and his tortas at Chalan Rest Stop last Sunday

why yes, that is John Orcutt just ahead there,

would you expect to see him any other way but on his bike?