Sad, but true...

OK, yeah, I know. No updates for quite some time now, but hey, things have been busy really. And the real reason that I haven't updated much lately, I have been riding the bike again. Yes indeed, riding. Imagine that? Been getting out consistently for between 1.5 and 2.0 hours now for the last few weeks, and of course longer on the weekends when possible. Unlike last weekend, when it was raining cats and dogs out there on Saturday and Sunday. Of course, we went and rode on Saturday like some hard core assholes, but come Sunday, nobody was going back out into the rain again. Once over the weekend is fine, but 2 days, when you're not racing, and fast approaching the so called off season, well, that's just silly. It's much easier to sleep in a little bit, go to a nice breakfast, do some chores, and then kick back and relax on Sunday, instead of riding in the rain. Now come say, January or February, when training is really going to count, and it's raining, we'll bust out the trainer, pop in a movie, and do the miles. But in October, when it's just riding for some fun, and to gain a little bit of base fitness, well, rainy days are non riding days. But the weather we've been having lately in NC has been incredible. Sunny most days, 80, or near 80 most days, and still a little bit of daylight out there. Once again, enough to get out there by 5 in the evening, crank out a couple of hours, or close to it, come home, have a light dinner, and then hit the rack. It's a good time of the year, that's for sure. The weekends, when the weather is nice, is even better. Cool mornings, and nice afternoons, means good riding. Time to get in the miles before the sun starts setting earlier in the evening. And then when it does set earlier, it's time to bust the lights out, and ride in the dark. I kind of dig riding in the dark for some reason. It's sort of "zen" like really. Pedaling around in the night, it's pretty quiet, not many cars around, and you get to see different things than you normally would. And it teaches you how to "feel" the road I think. Teaches you to use your other senses, and feel the road under the bike, and teaches better bike handling skills. This is what I think. Do I have empirical data to say that this is so? Hell no, just personal experience is all.

The road season is winding down, and we had the old world championships a few weekends ago. Mr. Paolo Bettini won the race this year, which means the Quick Step gets to keep the jersey that Mr. Boonen won last year. And of course with Bettini winning, this means one thing is for sure. Some bad fashion on the bike. Don't get me wrong. Cycling clothing is not very flattering most of the time anyway, and not very stylish for the most part, but Bettini takes it to whole new levels really. Combine this world championship with his Olympic gold medal, and we have what looks like a gold lame rainbow vomit going on. Anyway, he won, he might as well pimp it if he can, and I'm sure that he will. I'm sure that he will. Yikes!