This week marks a first for me – I took the week off from work just to ride my bike. It has been an awesome week so far. I’m getting out on some of my favourite roads that I wasn’t able to explore last year. I’m riding long and steady – pushing my body and my brain. So far in three days I’ve ridden in warm temperatures and been overdressed, battled crazy wind/rain and been overdressed and finally today ridden in warmish temperatures and was dressed perfectly.

On Monday I did my longest ride in over a year. Just shy of five hours. Wow – what a day. I had a great ride but I also cracked in the last hour. Learned a big lesson – even though I’m feeling awesome – I still need to eat. More importantly, I need to eat more than I think I need to eat. Yes, made the classic mistake of not eating enough so the last hour was a bit of a death march. Not sure what the friendly guy at the MacEwan’s in Richmond thought of my salt encrusted face as I manhandled my bottle of cream soda (the pink kind). (Oh yes, pink cream soda in the bottle can be a lifesaver – try it and thank me later.)

Tuesday was a steady three hour ride with the real battle being the crazy wind and the fickle rain. Luckily I’m used to riding in the rain and thanks to my tendency to overdress, I didn’t feel cold… Today I rode with good pal Vicki S. – we talked for the entire ride – it was super to have such good company. (If only we could have done something about that headwind!)

I was just saying to Marc that I feel really good. My body feels good. I feel good about myself. I’m not stressing about what others are “saying” or “doing” – I’m just happy being me and living life the way it makes myself and Marc the happiest. And then as luck would have it, I read Katy’s website where she had posted this great video. (Watch it and pass it on.)

Well, my birthday has come and gone. What a day it was! Overall a most excellent day spent with Marc and some very good friends. There were lots of stories, good food, laughter, and gifts. But best of all was simply hanging out with great people. Special treat was getting to chat with my little nephew over Skype video – so cute to watch him “weld” and “paint” – think we’ve got a future construction magnate on our hands!

While I didn’t get to ride outside on my birthday (darn you mid-April winter storms) I did get in a good hard work-out on the trainer. Some people might think that getting up early to sweat and grunt it out in the basement on the trainer is not the best way to spend a birthday. But for me, there is not much else I’d rather be doing (well, except riding outside)…

Yesterday marked a fresh start for me. The past three years have been filled with tough illness, injury and generally not feeling like myself.

Well, that bike ride yesterday on my birthday, marking the start of my 41st year – was a true gift. A chance to really seize this year by the horns and live the best life I possibly can. I’m finally at a point where I feel really great – I’m healthy, I feel good about myself, I’m excited to be training and racing again, I’ve beat the demons of depression that come with a disease like ulcerative colitis, I’m surrounded by awesome and loving people – really I’m just so super thankful to be starting this new year with such gifts.

This is the year when I take chances and put myself out there. I’ll do things I haven’t done before. Things that scare me a little or a lot. I want to push my boundaries and really discover what it is I’m capable of.

Last weekend was a good one – I got outside on both days. And then April arrived… Normally I welcome April with open arms – in fact – I relish April. April is a big month for me… (hint my birthday is in April) (second hint I love birthdays and I especially love my birthday)

So normally when April comes along, I’m all smiles and Easter eggs. April means it is time to get outside and ride ride ride. The sun is shining. The flowers are poking through. The birds are singing. Everyone is happy. It’s April – winter is a long and distant memory.

Except this year. This year, April is not winning any friends. I’m really hoping that  for April’s sake, things start to get a bit sunnier, warmer and more April-like. All week I’ve been in the basement riding the trainer. Yes, this has its merits – but not in April! Sigh – April – what did we ever do to you? It’s not like we moan about you like we do about January and February. Nope quite the opposite, we get excited when you show up. Patios open. Garages get cleaned out. People start wearing Crocs and tank tops. Yep, we get pretty eager when you show up.

I grew up in northern Saskatchewan. I’ve seen my fair share of cold and snowy days. (Days I don’t really care to see again…) As a kid and even teenager I used to beg my parents to let me take my bike out by my birthday. Every year it was “do you think I can get my bike outside by my birthday?” Sometimes it was a yes and other times it was a no. Well, let me tell you April – I’m done with no. I want a yes for 2013.

Come my birthday, I expect to be riding outside. And this doesn’t mean riding outside bundled up in four layers on the top, double booties, two pairs of gloves, and thermal tights. I would like leg warmers and shorts weather. In fact this is what I would like for my birthday – leg warmers, shorts, long sleeve jersey, vest, light gloves, and cycling cap weather. This is all I’m asking of you April. It’s not a lot – just some sunny, warm, dry days.

I think it’s only fair. I’ve lived through enough snowy Aprils and I don’t feel like I should have to see another one. Thanks April – I knew you’d understand. You really are a good friend. I knew I could count on you. After all, April this is for your own good as well as mine – you don’t want to start getting a bad reputation do you?

Gasp – the racing season has started. In Ontario the season kicked off with the Good Friday Road Race. This means that people are madly checking websites to see who is “fit” and who isn’t “fit”….

Some folks are sitting in front of their computers pouring over power files, trying to figure out what went “wrong” on Friday and why they didn’t get the result they had planned on getting. Others are looking at Strava and critiquing the training their friends and teammates have been doing – quickly finding holes in these training plans.

How about instead of stressing over what your teammate did or didn’t do in the race, or what your cross-town rival said to you after the race while completely exhausted and likely not thinking correctly, or obsessing over your friend’s new time trial bike and fancy wheels – you just take  a deep breathe and realize what it is we are doing.

We are racing bikes. We race bikes because it is fun. We like to go on long training rides because it is fun. We do intervals because we like to push ourselves.

We don’t do this to get stressed out, to get cranky with others who have the same passions as we do, or to behave negatively to another cycling fanatic. This simply doesn’t help the sport or the image that we as cyclists have.

So when you see your “rival” or teammate at the next race and you ask “Are you ready?” – think about how and why you’re asking this. Are you asking this to find out if you can get an upperhand or are you being genuinely friendly. Yes, yes, I know this is also sport – and everyone wants to win – well guess what – we race bikes because we love to ride our bikes.

Be nice to the people riding around in spandex – they’re doing it for the same reasons as you.

When I received my training calendar from my FasCat coach Tucker Olander, I wasn’t convinced that I needed to take a restoration week at the end of the month. After all, I was just getting started – why take a break? I’ve gone for months on end without a break before – why change this pattern? Well, guess what – Tucker was right…

After four weeks of good hard training, I was ready for a rest. I didn’t realize this until Sunday night when I was in bed at 7:30 in the evening. A restoration week doesn’t mean – sit around and do nothing. Rather it means do less than normal but still do some training. Admittedly Monday and today were pretty chilled out – all I had going on was a power yoga class at MountainGoat Yoga in Barrhaven. Wednesday sees me riding for an easy hour and Thursday is another yoga session.

Then the restoration ends… With Friday, things ramp up again and I get to become friendly with Computrainer. Yes, while most of you will be outside riding or racing on Good Friday – I’ll be in the basement riding. And you know what? I’m fine with that. There is a time and a place  for bundling up and getting outside and there is a time and a place for wearing just shorts and a sports bra and sweating it out in the basement. Some of you are still shaking your heads no and thinking “a true cyclist would ride outside”… Well, I have to do “all outs” also known as “full gas” intervals – not quite warm enough for this and it is hard to go completely all out when I have to worry about: staying upright, cars, snow, ice, and staying on the road. (Saturday is more intervals – so I’ll likely be inside for these.)

But Sunday – ah glorious Sunday – I’ll be outside rolling along wishing I could slow down time.

As you can likely guess, I’m enjoying a bit of a break from the hard training but I’m itching to get back at it. I’m super looking forward to the middle of April when I’m taking a week off from work and all I’ll be doing is riding, riding and riding. I’m going to do a mini training camp – likely right here in Ottawa so I hope the weather gods are friendly.

Suffice it to say, I’m happy with how the first month of training has gone. I’ve surprised myself and I think my coach as well. We saw numbers that I haven’t seen in a really long time (yes, I recalibrate my PowerTap before every ride) and (yes, I know that wattage means nothing if you don’t have the skills). Here’s looking ahead to April – a great month for training, riding and of course birthdays…

Happy Easter – I hope the bunny rabbit is friendly to you. Not sure what she’ll bring to our doorstep since I’m still doing the Simply Raw Lighten Up Cleanse – this is going really well. Not hard at all. I feel really good on it and I’m eating such darn healthy food that I feel super energized. Can’t beat fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds. (Of course, I am looking forward to some Easter chocolate – or should I say Easter cacao?)