Ross's space

This blog has moved to :  www.mueckeracing.net/index.php

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - it was great to get a secong century in over this relaxing four day weekend.  But it has been a really long time since I was that miserable on the bike!  All started well, bit of a late departure, but it took a while to locate enough clothes.  Temps just above freezing, but foggy.  I made my way up and over the plateau on the "cheaters route" - bit shorter, less steep and not as high as going up Clodfleter.  After about twenty miles I started slowly running out of steam - I stopped to refill the Spiz bottles in Hermiston - but continued to run out of energy the farther south I pushed.  I had thought of going down the highway to Heppner, which is on the new RAO route, but it took all my courage to muster 45 miles out.  This left me with the prospect of a short century if I went straght back.  The return trip was one of the longest 45 miles I felt I've ever ridden:  absolutely zero power output - top speed drifting down near 16.  Still not sure what was up, but possibly somebody needs to pay a little more attention to diet and hydration again!  The fog and low temperatures were unrelenting, until I had made about three miles off the river at Umatilla.  The fog finally broke and I was treated to some nice views of the orchards across the way.  Unfotunately, this was the ONLY area for hundreds of miles that didn't have any fog, and a brisk wind set up - rushing down from the summit.  As the climb drug on and on, I couldn't help but feel a tad weak: at a mighty 6 mph it was going to take a full hour to reach the top!  And then, like an old Sopwith Camel running out of fuel, I could feel my toewarmers sputter their last bit of heat.  And then, the fog bank settled in tight enough to soak through my less than water-resistant outer layers.

Well, I suppose it can't all be fun and games out there.  I made it home with 97 miles on the odometer - and climbed into a hot shower.

After a nice turkey dinner on Thurs, I found myself enjoying the prospect of another day off.  Until the cat decided that I needed to get up.  May as well take advantage of a day off and get the shopping done.  So I had some coffee and french toast, got dressed and headed down to the mall for the big day! 

Yeah, right.

Thirty-five miles into a really cold and foggy ride I arrived back at the house to find things just as I expected:  the kid is camped out on the xbox-brainsuctiondevice, and the wife is working on some schoolwork.  I quietly refill the Spiz (100% nutritionaly complete energy drink) bottles, trade bikes (I had headed out for the ride on the Lemond, fearing trashy road conditions), and head back out for a few more miles.  So far, it's been a great day - no wind, no rain, relatively dry roads, and light traffic.  The foot warmers are doing their job keeping my toes warm, and as long as I don't push too hard, the low temps don't freeze the Spiz bottles.

With 75 miles done on I head back to the house to get a bit more fuel for the final few miles.  It's always a bit hard to leave the warm house on the colder days, but with only 20 more miles to ride, I head back out.  The last lap of the ride went by great: a nice long, high speed run down Gage St. as I headed towards Leslie Rd.  The only problem came at the turn onto Leslie - guess I was going a bit too fast and the de-icing slime on the road surface nearly threw me down on the turn.  Viva Italia! - the Bianchi pulled out of the bobble.  I always hate it when I go skidding across a full intersection in my tights!

Back home in time to go find a Christmas Tree and make dinner - lots better than the mall! 

Had a nice ride on Saturday - did a thirty mile warm-up lap out on the north flatlands above Pasco, then stopped in at the house and refueled for a ride over to Hermiston.  I can definetely feel my fitness level dropping off, all those mornings of less than dedicated training rides!  But I eventually topped out on CLodfelter Rd. and had a nice view of Mt. Adams, Hood and Ranier.  Turned out to be a nice day for riding with very little wind, although the temp. never came up very high.  After a quick stop in at Scott's I headed back home.  All in all a nice way to get in another 110 miles for the year.

Mon. morning found me turning around after three miles and heading back to the warmth of the castle, though!  Looks like the morning rides are going to be inside for a while now - ahh, 45 mins of staring at the wall and drinking coffee while the stationary trainer whines away. 

well, no century today - just a nice climb up Clodfelter Rd. and a speed run back down. Pretty cold today, it won't be long before I'll be needing the dreaded foot warmers on every ride.

The long process to get the new blog running hit a major snag early this morning: I was able to get the software up and running and create the databases on the server, but I don't know where my posts are going! It appears that they are getting published, but where the heck is the blog?! I suppose it was a simple install error - simple to someone who knows what they're doing, that is.  I suppose it will mean another call to the tech guy - just another chance for him to win the "how-long-will-it-take-this-guy-to-screw-up-his-domain" office pool!