Ah, the wind. Friend and foe. Seems like the wind is blowing extra strong this year. Suppose this is due to the early spring weather we’re experiencing. Whatever is causing this, it can be a bit annoying at times. Nothing worse than riding along, checking your watch, realizing it is time to head for home, making a turn to get yourself home and being suddenly blasted in the face with a fierce wind. This can be a bit deflating. Not only does this explain why you made record time and broke speed limits on the way out but it also means, the ride home will not be that much fun. I try to tell myself that a strong headwind or crosswind is like climbing a hill…

Thing is, I don’t really like climbing hills… And secondly, hills end – headwinds and crosswinds do not. But I suppose in the grand scheme of things that can be frustrating during the course of a day – a little bit of wind pales in comparison to long meetings, impossible deadlines, and performance reviews. Gee, all things considered – give me a headwind every day – I don’t want to be back filling out my annual performance review ever again!

All this to say, I’ve had some pretty darn good (but windy) rides these past few days. Saturday ended up being three hours of wind and rain. Could have been pretty miserable but luckily I had company on this ride, Skip of KingsBridge came out to ride, chat, and yell at the wind. Definitely helps to have company on longish rides. I have to admit that on Sunday, I chickened out. On top of the ridiculous wind there was a never-ending downpour happening. Luckily I was able to swap my Monday and Sunday training plans. Finally found a not bad core work-out – thanks to some poking around on yogadownload.com I bought a 45-minute core-focused yoga work-out. Pretty good – I had the quivers and shakes going on! Today was another windy day, but I had my trusty iPod for company and a couple of podcasts to keep me company.

Looking ahead, this is going to be super week of training. This week, I get to do some temp intervals. Still without a computer, SRM, or any feedback. These tempo intervals will be done based on rate of perceived exertion. Cool – never done such intervals without some kind of digital feedback. The week gets pretty good on Saturday – this is when I hop a plane and jet off to Florida for four days! I’ll be traveling with the KingsBridge crew to a trade show – we’re staying at a hotel at the Walt Disney World Resort. I’ve never been to Florida before – should be a good time. I’ll get some nice long rides in, get to experience a trade show, check out Walt Disney World, and there is talk of a trip to the Oakley Factory Outlet store. Pretty darn good four days indeed.

I just have one lingering question: “Is it ‘cross season yet?”.