Turn Around.

At the start of the week I was down on riding, bummed at the weather, and lacking motivation.  Now coming into the weekend I'm stoked!  Funny what a couple good rides will do for me.

Yesterday was my long day.  I went back and forth on the bike to ride but finally decided on the Cross Check with studded tires and fenders.  I wasn't glad I had studs until I hit the gravel.  Most sections were covered in ice and snow.  Even as the day warmed, sections were still slick.  Open sections eventually became soft and energy zappers.  Several times I was wishing I had a few more gears, as the legs were starting to let me know they were tired.

It's odd (cause, well I'm odd) that I like that pain (within reason!).  I like it when I can go into the weekend with tired legs.  I like it even more that they recover rather well.  I'm sure some of it's mental but I have a ritual I do after long rides: recovery drink within 30 minutes of finishing the ride followed by a quart of Skratch everyday (if I was sweating a lot I'll mix in Skratch Rescue Hydration), CEP compression socks, and (if I remember) at night I'll sometimes hook the legs up to my Compex.  This seems to work for me.

Yesterday's ride ended with 7 hours and 108 miles.  This morning I'm heading out early for a spin on the fat bike over at the North Loop before this weekends warm up takes all our snow.  Most likely an early Saturday morning ride too before work.  Sunday is Christmas Tree day so going with the flow.

Happy Weekend.