Saturday, January 25, 2014

Winter blues

I'm not sure if it is really the winter blues or not, but this weather sure is not helping things. My end of the year slack off of riding as continued in to the start of the new year. I have only road a bike one time so far this year and it was not near far enough. I just seem to not have enough motivation to get on the bike or the trainer. I is not that I don't want to ride, but I just can get to the point of putting my leg over the top tube.

I always have big plans of being faster every year, but I never seem to do what I know needs to be done to get there. The last few years have been marginal as to what winter training I have done and not sure this year is going any better. I know it would be possible to start today and still make a difference. If I would actually do that. I will say that I have had a few more thoughts about getting on the trainer, but so far they are just thoughts. I really hate the trainer.

I do have some good gear for cold weather, but I really don't like riding below freezing. It could be done, but like I said the motivation level is not near high enough to put in that effort. There is some snow on the ground and I really like riding in the snow, but the wind is very strong and makes it even colder. My best chance would be to ride the back yard, but that will not result in very many miles or time before I would be wore out. I guess something is better than nothing, so we will see.

I have committed to joining a group in Florida for a few days of riding. That will be a good thing for my legs as the weather should be warm and the pressure will be high to get on the bike. The problem is that I am less than 4 weeks away from 4 long days on the bike and I only have 15 miles in for the year. I really need to put some work in so I could enjoy the trip more.

The only thing that I have been doing for some exercise is skateboarding. I am keeping myself to riding a small ramp to stay in my comfort level and to reduce the chances of getting really hurt. It is still possible, but not like it would be if I was doing a bunch of street riding or trying to jump down a lot of stairs all the time. Over all it has been a blast. I can't believe that I had sold all of my boards when I quite before. If I would have had one, I would have picked it up a few times over the years and still had some fun. Riding the ramp has been a really good leg work out and I hope it helps with climbing those hills this spring. I just wish the ramp was closer to the house so I could ride it more often.

I guess I have been known to quit things too good in the past. Just like skating, when I decided to give it up, I sold or gave away all of my boards. Why I have no idea. Just like I sold off my flatland bike and my bmx bikes. I have wished several times that I still had one to get on every now and then. I would still enjoy doing some flatland tricks, but I don't see myself buying a bike for that. I have too many other bikes that I would like to replace. I would like a new mtb, road bike and I would like to own a cx bike. Maybe some day after all the things that the house, car and kids need I will be able to replace them. For now I just have to live with what I have and replace as I can.

There is still time to get going, but the journey needs to start moving no matter how slow. I have a lot of work that needs to be done of several of my bikes and they just sit there. Work and some things have been too stressful and busy to feel like getting some of those things done. Some of the things I need to do I am not really sure how to do, so that does not help me either. I keep hoping to feel better about it, but for now I will just keep skating as much as I can and try to be happy.