Had another excellent ride today. Three hours with five sprints thrown in for good measure. Great way to keep the ride interesting. I’m really enjoying riding on the rolling roads around Peterborough/Lakefield. Was a bit damp at times today but this seems to have been the norm for all of Ontario today.

Got my yoga groove on as well and did a nice and easy 20 minute hip opening flow. I find my hips really tighten up after long rides and it helps to get into a few deep pigeon and full-pigeon poses to keep things loose.

I had been mulling around a number of blog post topics today. But nothing really stuck. I thought about writing about inspiration or motivation. I’m in that phase of training where I’m super motivated and inspired. I want to do more and do it all better.

My inspiration comes from a lot of amazing athletes out there but it also comes from within my own self. I am my own barometer on what I need to do and how I should get it done. This in turn motivates me. I’m working on my goals for the 2010 – 2011 cyclo-cross season and these keep me going and pushing down on the pedals.

But I have to say that my biggest source of inspiration and motivation comes from my favorite guy and husband Marc. Marc is just a rock. He works so hard at his day job and then comes home to work even harder on his bike. He never skips work-outs. He demands the best from himself at all times. He is always quick to lend a hand and help out those who might have questions about racing or training. He really takes great pleasure in the bike. If I could be half the bike racer that Marc is, I would consider myself to be a success. Really, if it weren’t for Marc I wouldn’t even be on this path – he convinces me to keep shooting for the stars and doesn’t let me falter or waver on my goals. I am one lucky person. I’m super proud of Marc for making a big move this cycling season. I think really good things are going to happen for Marc. This is a case where I think the grass really is greener.

Thanks Marc for being my role model, inspiration, and motivator. Couldn’t do this without you.

Training is now back in full swing. I had four weeks of simply “easing” back into riding. Getting my body and brain used to the rhythms of the pedals and the firmness of the bike seat. Now I’m full on into building fitness and starting to work on the different energy systems. My favorite part of this phase of training are the long rides. There is nothing quite like going out for three or four hours. Your brain, if you’re lucky, turns off. You hone in on the music or podcasts, take in the scenery, and enjoy the sensations of your body. It also feels darn good to look down at the power meter after a long ride and see how far I’ve ridden.

After a relaxing rest day on Monday, I got in a solid 2.5 hours on the bike this afternoon. I’m still in Lakefield, so I headed out of town towards Peterborough and hopped onto Country Rd. 23 towards Buckhorn. A right turn a bit later took me to Selwyn and then another right turn and I was in Bridgenorth. Nice ride across the causeway taking in the amazing homes along the lake and I was on some pretty good roads. One thing I can say about the riding around here – it is not flat. Definitely rolling. Kinda wish I could ride on such roads all the time at home. Little bit of rain but I was well dressed so it wasn’t a big deal. Got in some excellent tempo intervals and enjoyed being outside.

Tomorrow looks to be another good training day with three hours on deck and some sprint intervals thrown in for some extra action. Think I’ll head out in the same direction and explore a bit further. Fun times indeed.

So as I was poking around the WWW today, I came across a web site called Fast and Female. This is an organization created by Chandra Crawford to help young girls/teenagers get involved and stay involved in sports and active living. The web site is very well done and it looks like an excellent organization. As I was poking around, I came across a page titled: Mental Edge. Go read this page (Resources -> Mental Edge). It has excellent. Applies to athletes male or female and of all skill levels.

The racing action really picks up this weekend in Ontario with a ton of events on the calendar. If you’re in Ottawa and are planning on racing in the Clarence-Rockland Classic – be sure to register today. Organized by Ride with Rendall, this is sure to be an excellent event. And you can’t beat the meal at the end of racing on gravel roads! Visit the OCA web site to register.

Went out for my longest solo ride ever. I did four hours alone. I’ve done four hour rides quite often but always in a group. It was very different to such a long ride alone. Very quiet – thank goodness for a well-stocked iPod with some excellent podcasts. Funny the time seemed to pass very quickly. Almost seemed to pass more quickly than a standard two hour ride.

Checked out a new-to-me road out here in Lakefield. I hopped on Country Rd. 6 and then took a right turn on to County Rd. 44. 44 is a fun little road. Twisty. Rolling. Very little traffic. There are a few dogs but all in all, a good little road. Unfortunately it ends at Highway 7 – not a cyclist-friendly road. I doubled back on the 44 and turned right back onto the 6. I rode the 6 until it ended at some kind of quarry. Turned around to face a headwind and made my way back into Lakefield and then through the town and out the other side on the way to Peterborough for a few extra minutes.

Ride ended with four hours and 43 seconds of riding time. Perfect. Luckily it wasn’t that hot so I was able to get away with my two water bottles. Nice to get the ride down before noon as well. Sometimes these long rides can take over the day and before you know it, it’s the late afternoon.

Chilling out here in Lakefield. Wandered over to the flea market with my mom and then we went downtown to walk along the river. Perfect for some recovery from such a ride. I must admit my quads are a bit angry right now. The one thing about the riding around here is that it is much more rolling than I’m used to when riding from Barrhaven. Most of the hills are just little kickers but there are a couple that leave me weazing for a few minutes and cursing their steepness and length. But as the saying goes “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

And considering my post from Saturday when I wrote about committing to challenging myself on each and every ride and really focusing – these hills were just what I needed to test my mettle. I did go out with Marc yesterday but when it was time for his intervals, he took a different route. I’m pretty happy to report that I was able to ride side-by-side with him though – we were both in our “endurance” zones – I flitted between the top of this endurance zone and my tempo zone the entire time. In past rides, Marc would have dropped me on every climb because I would have looked at my power numbers and backed off. Not this time, I stuck with him on every climb. I’m pretty happy about this.

A good couple of rides on this fine Easter weekend. Tomorrow is a rest day so I’ll just do some yoga and give the legs a break. The rest of the week is pretty well stacked with a couple of three hour rides, a three and half hour ride, some tempo intervals, sprint intervals and the four hour group ride on Sunday. Pretty darn good week if you ask me.

Stopped in at Wild Rock Outfitters yesterday – many thanks for the map and advice on where to ride.

Alright, time to get off this computer and read my book. Loving Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson – highly recommend this book.

Maybe this post should really be re-titled to Weekend Thinking. Or maybe weekend thinking about riding. Really it should be weekend talking and thinking about riding. Don’t misconstrue this to mean that this weekend I’m only going to talk and think about riding and not ride. Nope, I’m going to do it all. Ride. Think. Talk. Trick is doing it all at once! (Okay lame joke…)

All this to say that yesterday in the car during our drive to Lakefield, Marc and I talked a lot about riding. About setting goals for each training ride. This involves thinking about the scheduled work-out, setting goals for each interval, and the ride overall. Then going out and achieving or over-achieving on these goals. If you don’t meet the goals, it is not a failure – rather time to ask why and what happened.

The other thing we talked about really boils down to “wanting it”. About having to want to get better. To want to put yourself in that place of pain and suffering. To really testing your body to see how far it can go. To committing to the ride and not letting yourself give up or “back down” on the ride.

For me this means that when I go out on group rides, I need to pay less attention to what my SRM is telling me and focus on staying with the group and riding intelligently. I need to go on these group rides with the commitment that I’ll do whatever it takes to stay with the group, to attack the group (if it is such a group ride), and to push myself.

This is how I’m going to get to the next level. I need to make this jump. To do this I need to bring out some aggression. Not crazy aggression. Just that level of emotion that drives me forward and makes me want it.

Now, all this being said. Don’t get me wrong. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am one of the most driven and committed athletes out there. But I can still do more. And I can take this drive and commitment and focus in a slightly different direction. To help me make that jump to the next level.

So this is what I’ll be thinking about this morning as I’m sitting on the Marc’s back wheel really wishing he would slow down…

Happy pedaling. Happy Easter.

Today was just one of those good days on the bike. The legs were full of snap. The wind was light. The sun was out. The brain was on track and ready to get down to work.

I got in a very strong three hour ride today. Mixed it up with some sprint intervals. Still working on the sprint technique. So much to remember. Pull back on the bars. Turn the legs over fast. Remember to shift. But don’t shift too early. Shift when I’m on top of the gear. So much to do and remember in my 15 second window.

This is definitely something I need to work on all season. I need to get this sprinting thing down. I’m an explosive athlete. I’ve got the power and snap. Just need to translate it to the bike. Technique. Comes down to technique. Well also commitment. I need to commit to the sprint. Technique and commit work hand in hand. One without the other won’t work for me.

Yes, I’m getting excited for the upcoming cyclo-cross season. I know it is early. But when I can finish my ride and sit down and think about my day of training and know that I’m making progress and moving forward, I can’t help but be excited. Tomorrow night I’m getting the mountain bike out for a roll over to Slack to check out the trails. I’ll let you know about the sogginess of the trails here. Not normally a place where I would ride a mountain bike (perfect for ‘cross riding) but I think at this time of the year, the mountain bike will work.

I’m off to Lakefield, ON on Friday for a week – so I’ll be out on my road bike checking out the area. Let me know if you’re in the area and want to hook up for a ride. I am looking for a group ride on Sunday – I’ve got four hours on the schedule with the words “group ride” underneath.

When I’m back in good old Ottawa, I’ll be out for some mountain biking at Kanata Lakes. The trails should be dryish by then. Can’t hardly wait.

Love this time of the year. Spring signals the start of a new season, new goals, more growth, more progress. And most importantly – fun times on bikes. Life is good.