Yeesh, this wind is getting to be a bit tiresome. In more ways than one. My strategy is typically to ride out against the almighty headwind. I do my intervals into the headwind. Then I get a friendly push home from the well-deserved tailwind. A win-win situation for everyone (okay really me).

But today this did not happen. The wind was not blowing in the correct direction(s) for me. I did my best to get my intervals in at least a cross-wind and with some climbs for extra spice. But it was headwind all the way home. Even the cross-tailwind wasn’t that awesome along Upper Dwyer Hill. The ride down Jock and then Franktown was fierce.

There were many pluses today’s ride thought that outweighed the unfriendly wind. The sun was shining. The sky was a brilliant blue. I nailed my intervals. I’m really focusing on keeping my cadence high when I’m under stress. I tend to revert to a plodding 80 rpm cadence when working hard. So the goal is to fix this. Today I did an excellent job of keeping the cadence and the wattage high. Great feeling when the small goals come together. In fact the entire ride was pretty darn good – cadence was spot on, wattage was grooving along. I felt good out there.

I’m in the next phase of my training now. Lots of tempo intervals and sprint work. Also some longer rides. I’m looking for group rides. Every Sunday I’ve got a four hour group ride on the schedule. So let me know if you’ve got a group ride going. I’m looking forward to spending more time on the saddle.

On deck for tomorrow is three hours with a bunch of sprint intervals thrown in for some heartrate raising and lung bursting action. Nothing like a sprint work-out to put some quiver in the legs. Extra bonus is that Wednesday is supposed to be a decent day – sunny and dry. Time will tell about the wind.

I’m itching to hit up the trails on my mountain bike. I head that Kanata Lakes was starting to dry up. Not sure what the last few days of rain will have done to the conditions though.

Well, I best be off. I’ve got a bunch of web sites to visit and my new book is calling my name (Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson).

Ah, sitting here watching the end of Gent-Wevelgem with my favorite guy. Wow – I can feel the pain of the break. Such a beautiful sport. Fitting way to wind down after a busy day of riding for ourselves.

We hooked up with The Cyclery crew for a fun and at times fast group ride. Original plan was the Richmond Bakery but the wind caused us to change our plans. Carp it was! I had a lot of fun on the ride. Moments of floating along effortlessly on the pedals sandwiched between bouts of pounding the pedals and focusing on the wheel in front of me. At the end of it all, I got in a little over three hours. Good. Perfect way to spend a Sunday. Riding bikes and hanging out with friends. Kind of like when I was a kid. Really much better than anything else I can think of right now.

Pretty chilled out afternoon. Usual house stuff to do. Amazing how much laundry two cyclists can generate!

I think one of the best things about today’s ride was how welcoming and friendly everyone on the ride was. It was smiles all around with lots of chatter about bikes, work, kids, and life. There was no craziness as can happen on group rides. Just a fun group. (Okay, there was that insane moment on the way back where the pace got a bit hot for me… But next time I’ll be ready for it!) Fun on bikes on the weekend. Nice.

Rumor has it that Kanata Lakes is starting to dry up. Cool. Think I’ll find myself there this week to work some rust out of my trail riding skills. Maybe a smooth double day with a road ride before lunch chased by a mountain bike ride. Doesn’t get much better.

Today is one of those days when I realize how fortunate I am. I was going through my blog posts over the years and found it very interesting how I dealt with setbacks and what I drew inspiration from. I like to believe I’m better at handling the hurdles and bumps along the way. But one thing does remain consistent for me, I still draw inspiration from those around me. For this, I have you to thank. Your words, comments, emails, even smiles, help me keep staying focused. Everyday one main thought runs through my brain and keeps me on track:

Vicki, what are you doing right now to reach your goals?

Where has our toasty March weather gone? Yikes. It was a bit frosty out there today. I know it is still only March but I guess I’ve been spoiled by the ridiculously warm weather so far. In uncharacteristic fashion, I under dressed for today’s ride. Usually I’m so overdressed that I’m sweating by the end of the block. Not today. I wasn’t cold but I wasn’t warm either. Then after my round of intervals I was sweaty and ended up getting a bit cool on the ride home. Ah well, could have been worse – it wasn’t snowing or raining and I am riding my bike outdoors in March.

All in all, it was still a most excellent ride. Nothing like opening the legs up a bit with some tempo efforts. Need to work on my cadence though. My cadence is nice and high when I’m riding around in my endurance zone but as soon as I start to put some real pressure on the pedals I get into that grind and stomp mode. This will be a focus in the coming weeks to rid myself of this nasty habit. I’m also working on using my upper body more effectively. I learned from Marc that I’m not pulling on the bars properly when I’m accelerating or sprinting. So I’m trying to train myself to really use my arms, shoulders, pectorals, and brain when accelerating.

Funny you look at the bike and watch a cyclist ride and it all looks pretty simple. Sit on seat. Grip the bars. Push on the pedals. But there is so much more to it than that. Another reason why cycling is one of the most amazing sports – there are so many finite details and things to learn and re-learn.

Popped in to The Cyclery today to pick up some bottles and say hello to Vince and the crew. Super awesome to see the store busy. Lots of people in there buying new bikes. If you’re in the market for a new bike, new shoes, or some new clothes, definitely stop off at Bank and Sunnyside. I took a look at the new Icebreaker clothing – some smooth looking t-shirts and golf shirts. I do have to tell you that the support I receive from Vince truly is overwhelming. No matter how busy the store is or what he has going on, he always has time to help me out – be it talking about my bikes, helping me get some new shoes or helmet, or just sitting down to talk bike racing and life. Couldn’t do this without his support.

Looks like I’m going out on The Cyclery group ride tomorrow. Kind of funny, in three years, I’ve never gone on The Cyclery group ride. Suppose there is a first time for everything. Looking forward to it. A nice longish route eventually stopping at the infamous Richmond Bakery and then a roll back into town. Leaves me lots of options as well since the Richmond Bakery is a little over a 30 minute pedal from my place. Maybe I can convince the guys to check out the new coffee shop in Richmond. I love the name: Never Too Latte.

Well, that’s about it for today. Tomorrow I’ll be dressed more appropriately for the weather! Lets keep our fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain – we lucked out today with a sunny and fresh day. I’ve got my new training program for the next four weeks. It is a good one. Lots of four hour and three hour rides in there. So if you’re looking for a riding buddy for your long rides, be sure to email me. Pretty much every Sunday this month I’m out for four hours.

Have a good one. Here is something to think about:

What are you doing right now to get you where you want to be?

You know those feelings you get when everything just clicks? You’re feeling good on the bike. You’re feeling good off the bike. The pedals are turning over nicely. The bike is ticking along. The head is clear. The brain is smiling. You have time to train, time to recover. Most importantly time to savor and enjoy life.

This is where I’m at.

I just finished my first four week block of the new season. The first few weeks were not as smooth as I would have liked. But now I’m in that groove. That groove where I just want to ride and ride some more. My body is asking for it. My brain says “bring it on”. Gotta love this.

Away from the bike life is good. I’m getting into a good routine here at home with my writing work – balancing my time on the computer so it does not take over my days. Giving my brain time to recharge with my yoga practice. All is good.

I’m not very impressed with this cold snap right now. But I suppose we had it coming considering the unseasonably warm weather we had early in March. What is the saying “in like a lamb out like a lion”? I think we’re getting a taste of the lion.

The road racing scene is starting to hot up around these parts. April is around the corner and that means lots of local racing on the calendar. In April there are three local races and our local training criterium series kicks off. Fun times. Fast times. I’ll be out at the training criteriums but that is it. No racing for me in April. Still to early. Fine by me – I want to be sharp and fast for ‘cross season. It is not easy to not race, but I know the pay off in November and again in January will be huge.

I’m out for a two hour ride tomorrow. So keep your fingers crossed that this wind eases off and the sun comes out to play. I don’t want to go back to the thermal tights, two pairs of shoe covers, thick gloves, and hat.

Alright, I best be off. Got a few more things to get through today. Enjoy your training or racing this weekend. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing – stay safe and remember to smile – you’ll never have this day again.

Phew, the last five days have flown by. I was in Orlando, Florida chilling out and pedaling my bike in and around Walt Disney World. Surreal. But very fun at the same time. This was my first time to Florida. Interesting place. Definitely nothing like New England…

I was down in Orlando with the KingsBridge team for the DRJ trade show. Many thanks to Skip and his team for making me feel so welcome and for bringing me along. Basically I was there to ride my bike in the trade show booth. I wasn’t sure how it would work out. Well, it was great. We had lots of traffic to the booth, I met a lot of interesting people, and I also got in lots of great outdoor riding. Pretty smooth five days. Many thanks as well to Clif Bar for hooking us up with very tasty booth treats for the trade show attendees – I think we got a lot of people hooked on Clif Bars…

Many thanks to Steve Rogers from KingsBridge for saving the day with my bike… Yep, a minor bike issue was discovered on Saturday – the o ring in my headset was broken/ruptured. Essentially – there was nothing to keep my headset nice and tight. So Sunday morning found me on the trainer by the pool pedaling in place for three hours. This was a very long three hours. Luckily I had my iPod and a magazine. But staring at a pool of blue water doesn’t really help the time pass quickly… Steve stepped in and solved the problem of the loose headset by first discovering the problem (I would never have found it) and then fixing up my headset thanks to a trip to Home Depot for a new o ring. Thanks to this fix I was able to get in some great early morning rides around the Walt Disney World Resort. My bike served as an excellent mode of transportation and I was able to get in some long rides and check out the Walt Disney World action.

The weather did not live up to its reputation but it was much warmer down in Orlando than it was here in Ottawa… So no real complaints. After a long day of travel yesterday, I’m happy to be home and getting back into the groove. My bike is put together and I’m just about to go for a ride to shake the airplane legs out of my legs (not to mention the airplane food and the five days of eating in restaurants in Orlando…).

Noticed that the 100 Miles to Nowhere is sold out… I’m stoked for FatCyclist but bummed for myself and the KingsBridge crew as we were looking forward to participating. Guess we’ll have to be sure to register early next year.

Merrickville on Saturday? Any takers? I’ve heard rumors that some of the trails are pretty dry – any input on this?