Making the most of trainer time - Hah!

I am a bike nerd. I have a webcam. This was inevitable:

It's all part of my motivational campaign. If I'm going to get 12-14 hrs per week of training volume, I'm going to need sufficient impetus to ride the rollers enough, and the skills necessary to do so. This video kills two birds with one stone, so to speak. By making it semi-public, I'm revealing my own weaknesses, hopefully generating some drive for improvement. By only having a few intro "tricks" on there, I'm forcing myself to learn new skills and post a follow up video (I'm thinking in 2 months - stay tuned).

So, 2-3 weeks of steady roller riding has taught me how to:

1) Not fall off.
2) Ride with a high cadence.
3) Ride one-handed.
4) Take a drink.
5) Ride no-handed.
6) Ride out of the saddle (in the drops or on the hoods).

I'm pleased - but I'm also determined to add a few more tricks to my repitoire:

7) Spin one-legged.
8) Spin one-legged and no-handed.
9) Sprint.
10) Mount without a wall/handle.

So far I've managed to get enough miles on my trusty (read: ancient) Mclain rollers to break the belt that drives the resistance unit. That was an abrupt change of pace when it happened... Glad I've been practicing cadence drills. I found a place in Michigan that will replace it for a pretty fair price, and the new belt should arrive sometime next week. 'Till then I'm running slightly less tire pressure and practicing tricks to improve my balance.

I had a big day today - Gym time, sample prep at the NMR lab, 90 minutes of easy riding, and 3-4 hours worth of homework that I needed to get done earlier than later.

I'll keep posting more often once this semester wraps up - including some likely posts from a January trip to Telluride - More on that soon.

Best regards, thanks for reading.

Late thoughts

How's it going everybody?

So I'm up late tonight, probably becasue I decided to take a nice long nap this afternoon. Who can blame me - I managed to jam in a 2Hr tempo ride at an avg. of 220W on the trainer, a full day of classes, two lab reports, and some work on an end of the semester write-up for my independant research experience. Phew - see what I mean? That all equals "nap" in my book.

I've been loving the Madone - The guys at the Trek Store of Madison really hooked me up with a great ride. Thanks to Pete, Andrew, Matt, Bryan, Mike, Geo and Arthur for being such grade-A guys and helping me land the bike of my dreams. I can't wait to race it next spring/summer, and I'm planning on going back in to get my 'Pro' fit this next Monday just to be sure I'm all dialed in for those upcoming efforts.

I've had racing on the brain for the past couple of weeks, despite the fact that it's been getting colder every day, and finally snowed today. My dreams have been filled with recurring scenes of different ways that I might win some collegiate events, and have provided adequate training motivation for the continued base-building phase that I'm working on right now. As far as that goes, I'm basically trying to get in 14 hours of quality base (endurance/tempo) riding per week. I'm still throwing in some SST and a tiny bit of threshold work every now and again to keep things interesting though. I'm looking forward to the more intense workouts this spring though - they make the time on the trainer/rollers pass a lot faster.

Beyond the bike, I've been pretty busy with class work. Between surviving my chemistry course and trying to keep awake while reading American Indian law texts, I've been burning the academic candle at both ends. Luckily, I have an escape in the form of the NMR lab that I'm working at - which reminds me that there is more to academia than exam prep and monotonous literary works.

I've been putting a lot of thought into my future plans, and while I haven't really narrowed down a final decision, I've come to a few general conclusions:
1) I keep coming back to the health sciences. I'm not sure in what capacity, but I want to work with people, and be able to use my biochemical knowledge to improve health. Perhaps this means medical school, perhaps it means pharmaceuticals, perhaps it means food science.
2) I've been getting more and more interested in the role of advocates and activists in the world. I'm willing to bet that I could do well in the energy sector if I devote some more time to observing and understanding this whole green revolution as it unfolds. Knowing the potential impact that biology could have on our future energy consumption points to this as a good area for career growth.
3) I want to do something that I love. I don't mean to be cliche when I say this. I just want to be involved in something that I identify with, and recognize as being distinctly mine - Something that I do uniquely. I can't see myself being happy doing something that 1000s of other people do every day. While my main capacity/job title may be common, I want the underlying objective of the career to be something novel, an occupation that I can really sink my metaphorical teeth into.

Regards, thanks for reading