Well....not much to talk about for this week, just trying to log in as many miles as possible.After loggin 320 miles last month I’m shooting for 370 this month.  I'm going to start commuting more to work.  It’s a 26mile round trip and I can’t rely on getting all my miles in after work, esp with the days getting shorter.  Also looking into possible YMCA membership here, @$35.00 a month it may be a good idea, they have many spin classes to offer, esp in the early hours that I could attend during the winter months.  My plan is to still train as much as I can on the roads this winter on my soon to have Fatbike.  The cold temps really don’t bother me much but I know there will be days where a spin class and trip to the sauna afterwards will be much more tempting than a ride out in snowy 25 degree weather.  I think the most brutal thing about an Iowa winter is the wind; it can sustain itself at like 25-30 mph for days on end.

 

I’ve been trading email with Guitar Ted the last few days (Trans Iowa Organizer) and he says no one has ever even attempted a Trans Iowa on a fatbike, that alone is almost enough to make me say “Well I will dammit!!!”.  I can’t explain this bug/sickness I have right now for cycling; it’s almost completely consuming my life.  My poor wife is such a wonderful woman for putting up with it.  I’m sure once I get where I want to be physically it will subside some.  I can though without a doubt say that it has saved my Army career.  My left knee is not in good shape; well, not in good “running” shape so before I started cycling again I was turning into a lazy paperweight.  I guess if you’re not a cyclist you can’t understand how amazing it is, it frees you both mentally and physically when you’re on the bike.

 

I know this is the last thing my wife will want to hear but I’ve even started looking at cyclo-cross bikes.  They are more geared toward gravel races but with me being here only another year at most I’m not sure I’d get much use out of it. There isn’t a lot of gravel races in the deep south, most are conducted in the Midwest states, maybe I need to start rethinking my retirement locations? :P  

 

Today I’m just going to log some miles, on the 14^th of Sept I’m in a mini-triathlon of sorts, it’s a three leg event, running-kayaking-mount bike course, I’m doing the mnt bike part.  That will be my last short course race for this year.  From then on out I’ll be concentrating on getting more longer rides in to prepare for the Trans Iowa.  Well….until next time, keep peddling to top of the next hill, it’s eventually going to go back down!!