The Psycho Cyclist!

Don'r know what got into me this morning, but I felt great! I did my 30 mile ride this morning in an hour! 30 mph average speed! Legs didn't get tired.... I am starting to take in more protein during the day...some where about 150 grams....give or take. But what ever it was, it sure felt good. Heart rate was good this morning..about 163 bpm average and for that speed, that's good. See how I feel later :-)

Another 30 mile day....@ 23.4mph. Feeling a bit tired this morning..felt like it took more effort today than normal, but I got the ride in. On a side note, I decided to do the Race across Florida in a couple of week. It goes from Titusville to Crystal River, should be fun and relatively easy. Not used to having SAG stops!! BE a nice change. Tomorrow will hit 1200....

Well I do have a goal for the week…that is to finish the month with over 1200 miles!! I rode 20 miles yesterday and 30 today, and all I have to do is continue doing 30 miles a day and I got it! I went over 1700 miles YTD on my trainer and 3000 miles YTD total. Not to shabby! I’m also getting better with my eating. Eating more that is. Haven’t lost anymore weight lately. Bought some protein bars to eat in the afternoon at my desk. I’m holding now at 134 lbs and 12% body fat. Feel good!! Heart rate is still dropping a bit and recovery is super fast now. As soon as I stop peddling, I can watch the bpm drop in 2’s…160…158….156…and within a few seconds I’m down in the 120’s or so. Yesterday I did 20 miles with an average peed of 28.7!!!

The weekend wasn’t a total lost…but then again I didn’t have much ridding planed anyway! Saturday was a pain in the butt! I headed out early, about 6:15 a.m. and managed to get a whole 2.5 miles before I got a flat tire (the back)! I pulled into a church parking lot and changed my tub. No real biggy, but its way to early to be getting flats. Anyway, seeing how I’m so close to the house, I decided to swing back and grab a new tub for a spare. Well on the way back, my front tire goes flat!! Is someone trying to tell me something? Now the tire didn’t pop…it just went flat. Maybe I didn’t tighten the valve stem tight this morning when I pumped up my tires?! I just pulled over and put more air in the tub. Got back home grabbed a tube and pumped up both tires with my floor pump and sprayed soapy water on the tire to check for bubbles (bubbles=leak). All good! Now I can get back out on the road. I headed up to 405 and out to NASA. It’s a very grey morning, windy, moist, and jus...

Ho..hum. See previous post. 30 miles @ 24.8 mph. Tomorrow I'm going to go for 70 miles (the 1/2 tour loop) but I have to hit the road about 6-6:30 to get the miles in. Have plenty to do! Sunday I'm probably going to ride the river with my friend Stu.

I know that this is starting to sound like a broken record...but I did my 30 miles and a 25.1 mph pace. A bit quicker than normal. My heart rate is still holding down lower than normal...maybe that is my normal now?! I am able to ride faster without my heart jumping out of my chest!!! My plan is to do about 50 miles on Saturday and about 40 on Sunday for about 210 for the week. I know slacking...but I will manage over 1200 for the month!

True to my word…I went and did a leisurely 30 mile ride with a 23 mph pace. I am starting to notice the my heart rate is dropping a bit. Both yesterday and today, my heart rate seems to be about 10 beats lower. Today I was at a 23 mph pace and my heart rate was sitting around 135 bpm…usually it’s in the 145 range. It’s also dropping faster after my rides…about 2-3 bps per second. Feeling good! I also managed to go over the 1600 mile mark on the trainer today for the year.

Well, after a well deserved day off of the bike it was time to get back to work. This week is going to be relatively easy. The plan is to do 30 miles a day during the week and then about 90 over the weekend…like a 40 mile day and a 50 mile ride, or something like that. I just need to take a wee break, but I’ll still manage to do over 200 miles this week doesn’t sound like much of a break huh. But it is. By, putting a limit to the week, I can’t push myself and burn out! Right now I’m at 891 miles for the month and over 2800 for the year. I’ll finish the month at about 1200 miles! Today…well you got it…I did my 30 miles but I managed a 24.4 mph pace! Pretty quick! It’s harder for me to go slow than fast!

WOW...what a ride!! Just a gorgeous view of native Florida. Some small deviations....I went up through the Wildlife Refuse up to Oak Hill instead of the usual US1. I just thought that the view would be better. Once in the Refuse....I notice a bald eagle flying along aside of me! How cool is that!!! Well, after about a mile..I notice that the eagle was still following me..he would fly on my right, then cross over and fly on my left. I didn’t know if he was flying with me or waiting for be to die so he could eat me! Eventually, after about 15 minutes, the flew off... Now it is a beautiful day with light winds and the air is about 65 F and I have some great music in the MP3 player!! I make it up to the intersection of RT 3 and US1 and take a small break to eat my Cliff Bar. After a few minutes...about 10, and a call to Carmen, I head back up into Oak Hill and make the left onto 4164 (Halifax Rd.). This is a new road for me. Well first off, this is a very woody area and the tr...

Saturday I just had a quick 30 mile ride on the trainer. I had a birthday party for my Nephew Mathew, so no long ride today. It was a good ride though…I rode my Colnago for the first 20 miles and kept a 28.2 mph pace and then switched to my training bike and finished the last 10 miles at a 24 mph pace. Pretty fast morning!! To day will be my long ride. I’m going up to Debary Fl!! This ride should be about 120 miles. I’m taking a different rout today…I’m going to ride US1 up to Oak Hill the I’ll take 4164 over to Debary around Lake Monroe and then back on 46. Well have to get ready….wish me luck!!

The blog's name has been changed by a recommendation of a friend. It is more accurate!

Blaaahhhh. I just felt tired this morning. My legs did NOT want to play. I did manage to crank out 30 miles....but it was hard. I think that I’m starting to over do it a bit. Na...that can’t be it. I am going to plan on riding about 40-50 tomorrow and about 100 on Sunday. The weather so far looks great and I might do a Sanford ride this Sunday...but it’s been almost 2 weeks without a day off! The weather looks like high about 75 and winds light 3-5 mph but variable. I can handle that!!!

Well today I was feeling a bit lazy and a bit sore. I decided to ride only 30 miles this morning. I did originally intended to do 40...but I took the easy way out. This just means that I’ll either have to do 40 tomorrow or come up with another excuse! But that makes 150 miles so far for the week. I plane on doing 40 tomorrow and 50 on Saturday and probably 100 on Sunday. I may ride down to Sebastian on A1A...or at least ride to Melbourne Beach. So I may end up with 340-350 miles for the week!!

Well I had an ambitious morning and rode for 50 miles before work!! Just kept about a 23 mph pace and a little over 2 hours and about 10 minutes. I did sweat my butt off and I went through two bottles of Gatorade....but it felt good. Now if I only had the time to do that everyday!! I have about 120 miles for the week, 661 for the month and 2561 for the year! I know...kinda lazy....lol

Today was a steady 40 mile morning with a 23 mph pace. Took a small 2 minute break at mile 20 or 50 minute mark....same thing. No spider today and nothing particular on my mind to distract me. Actually, everything is going pretty good for me. Usually I’m motivated in the morning by stress or some negative energies...but lately everything is working great and I’m pretty damn happy...its great but not a good motivator in the morning. I like to think things out while I’m on my bike...but there’s nothing that needs to be worked out! Hummm....life is pretty good! I’m very grateful!

Well I thought that I would get a few “recovery” miles in this morning, so I went out to the garage with the intention to do an easy 20 miles to wake-up the legs and to get the blood flowing. Instead, I did 30 miles and cranked out a 24 mph pace. What can I say...I’m an over achiever! Legs were a bit sore at first..but I got a fresh dose of endorphins so they feel great now! Oh yeah, I have a new fan. It turns out that there is a rather large spider living in my garage. It was quite amusing watching this spider, who I’ll call Frank, scamper about running from on side of the garage to the other. Then Frank..lol....run underneath me and then realized that it was wet!! Anyway...it was funny.

Well all day Saturday I was wishing that I was still on my bike…wind or no wind so today that’s what I’m doing. I’m just going to ride. I’m not going to worry about the wind or speed…just time. It’s been beautiful outside. Today (Sunday), I’m going to ride out to NASA and down S. Tropical trail and over Pineda Causeway and up the river home. Well the wind was a bit brisk coming out of the west @10 at 8 am and will only get worst, but who care…I’ll gear down and just peddle harder. I should be strong enough. I rode up to Columbia Ave and headed east to NASE and got that tailwind. I cruised at 26 mph the whole way and made fantastic time, but in the back of my mind I know that I’ll pay for this. Heading south out of NASA I started to feel that cross wind and then the headwind…not bad really! It did slow me down to about 19.5-20 mph…but I’m not in a rush. That is the ride pretty much all the way down into Merritt Island. On the south side of 520 on Tropical Trail…I did get the t...

Well it's Saturday and I finally made it for a ride outside of the garage. Today I wasn’t planning on doing much…wind is really kicking it up today and I have a ton of things to do….off of the bike. I rode up around the TICO airport and headed back south on US! And down the river and about 20 some odd mile into the ride…I get a flat. Not an ordinary flat either…I don’t know what I rode over but it put a nice slice in my tier…will have to replace it. A funny thing did happen though during the flat tire incident…a man in a car actually stopped to see if I need any help…are there really people like that left? I just said thanks with a big smile and told this “gentleman” that I had everything that I needed. Then something else happened…the lady’s who yard I was performing the road side bike maintenance in came out. Now if you are not familiar with this area…it’s a bit affluent. Anyway, this lady (who was about late 40s to early 50) came out of her house and started walking over to me…I...

Nothing really exciting today to write about today.....went out to the garage about 5:30 am and did my 30 mile ride at a 23.5 mph pace. I think that I need some new music to train to. Starting to get bored...not with riding...it’s the music. Maybe I’ll spend some time this weekend downloading some new stuff! I love the ride...starting to see some great improvements in my self in regard to speed, endurance and in physical appearance. I’m starting to get real lean and chiseled! Down to about 10%-11% body fat and about 135 lbs! Even my skinny clothes are baggy! If I keep this up, I’ll have to start using weight gainer to maintain my weight!! But anyway...that makes 180 miles so far this week!

This morning I surprised myself again by riding 50 miles before work!! I had some things on my mind to focus on and to forget that I was in the garage sweating!! Great ride though...50 mile with a 23.4 mph pace...pretty good for a week day. This weekend will be nice but very windy so I’m not going to plan a long ride but I will stay around Port St John area and try to get another 100 miles in over the weekend. I’ll probably go for 40 on Saturday and 60 on Sunday...we’ll see. I have 150 miles so far for the week...190 after tomorrow...so I really don’t need to do that much.

This morning was a great yet surprising morning. First I woke-up at 3 am...couldn’t sleep, so I got up and put on a pot or two of espresso. Then a about 5:20 I got ready to work out. Now I was really in the mood due to the lack of sleep. But as luck would have it...I had a fantastic ride! I peddled out 30 miles at a 25.6 mph pace! I felt great once the blood was pumping. I guess I have some nervous energy to expend! I was going to shoot for 40...but it was almost 7 am and I heard Carmen in the kitchen so I decided that I would stop there and have some breakfast with my wife. I try not to let my cycling interfere with my time with her...so I have to set some time aside. It’s so easy for me to get consumed with cycling and spend the whole weekend on my bike and she never says a word about it and is very supportive, but I know that she would like me to be home once and a while! It’s about balance I guess.

Same as yesterday, but today I did mange to get my 40 miles in. I’ve been getting up earlier and been able to get into the garage about 5:30.....yes in the morning to start my ride. I’m still feeling good and strong. Pace today was 24.2 mph....not to bad. Not sure about the weekend yet...the winds are going to be a little brisk on Saturday abut Sunday looks good. Maybe I’ll have back to back 70s or something like that. I’d rather have a long ride on Saturday and take the day off on Sunday again...I really want to ride to Mt Dora this weekend it the wind behaves. Something about a 150 ride with a head wind does not sound like a good idea. Then again maybe I can relax this weekend and go on a couple of rides with my friend Stu....well see. I really hate not pushing myself....that is why I like cycling...the challenge of it! Riding around the neighborhood for 20 miles is not much of a challenge anymore. But where do I draw the line? How much is enough? I’ll give you the answer to that, wh...

For a Monday....I felt real storng and fast. Usually, this is a relaxing day with onylt about 20 miles...but not this morning! I whipped out a brisk 30 mile ride with and average speed of 24.5 mph. My speed is really starting to pick up!! I thought about staying on the bike and doing 40, but it's only monday and I have the whole week to think about. I'll shoot for 40 on the next 3 days. It seemed the more I rode this morning the better I felt and the more motivated I became! Maybe these long rides are starting to pay off. Actually I thought that I would feel like crap today...all I did yesterday was eat and I feel like I gained 10 pounds in the past 24 hours...but I know that if I sleep long enough that I'll burn it all off! Lucky me huh! Well I'm going for about 150 miles durning the week and a long ride either day over the weekend if the weather permits!!! I managed 260 miles last week and I'm over 2200 miles so far for the year! Got to go to work now!!...

Well I have to say that it was a spectacular ride on Saturday! The morning started early and chilly about 8 am and the air was just about 50 F, winds were light out of the north. I started out north along US1 up to Columbia Parkway out to the NASA Visitor’s complex. The sky was very clear and the sun was bouncing off the water nearly blinding me. Headed south toward RT3 or SR 3 into Merritt Island. It was a great leg. I was listening to some classical music on my MP3 player (some Hunt for Red October and Hannibal soundtracks) while riding through the orange groves on the north end of the island. Up to this point, I felt strong and ready for the long day ahead keeping a 23 mph pace. I made it to the Bee Line and into the busy section of M.I. and through with no problems…traffic was thick but not even an issue. I ride like I own the road! Heading down S. Courtney (SR3) I decided to take my first break. I found this park (Rotary Park) about 3-5 miles down S. Courtney. I was at my 30 mile ...

Well I made it home after my little 121 mile journey around Brevard County! A few modification to the route.....wind was a little hard than I was expecting. But I won't get itno it now....just got out of the tub and now MUST EAT. I need to regain the 5 pounds that I lost durning the ride!!!

AHHHH Saturday!! The day that I train for and wait for all week long. Weather looks great winds look good! Today, I’ll ride up over to the Nasa Visitor Complex and com south on RT 3 (Tropical trail) all the way to where it meets up with 192. Then I’ll ride over the causeway there and ride US1 down to the Micco-Sebastian area. Then I’ll ride west to Babcock and then over to Wickham in to Melbourne. Once I get back to N. Wickham, I’ll do my normal route around the stadium up Fisk and up through Rockledge and into Port St John and home!! The route should be about 120 miles! A little ride. I’m starting up on the top of the map where the (5) is and ridding to the bottom…and back! Wish me luck!

This morning was perfect!!! I had the most excellent ride. I did my thirty that I originally planed and I made up that extra 10 that I was too lazy to do yesterday....so I got a good 40 miles in this morning!! Not only that but I kept a 25 mile pace rather high heart rate and completed the miles in 97 minutes which is fantastic for riding in the garage! I could have done more but that little thing called work was beckoning me! Anyway I was a 120 mile ride tomorrow so I need to conserve. The weather looks great...winds will be 5-7 mph which I can live with and the temp will be in the lower 70’s!! Pretty close to perfect! I will try to keep my pace close to 20 mph so the ride should take me about 6 hours....7 hours with my breaks. More about the route later.

Well I kind of whimped out this morning…I rode only my 30 mile instead of the 40 I had originally have scheduled for this day. I was so tired yesterday and think that my body needed a break…if I feel ok tomorrow, I’ll make up that extra 10 miles, if not no biggy. I still had a great ride today! Did my 30 miles and kept a steady 25 mph pace. Finished in 75 minutes for the 30 miles. Now…if I can start to extend that pace out for a few more miles and get a 50 mile ride in 2 hours…..or a 100 miler in 4 hours….just to hard to stay motivated to do that on the trainer. I decided to ride down to South Brevard County….Grant, Fellsmere, or Sebastian area on Saturday….should get about 120 miles on that day. Weather should be in the upper 60’s to low 70’s with winds @7 mph out of the north then shifting to the west-north-west as the day progresses! Can’t complain about that!!!

Nothing exciting today to report. I rode the 40 miles that I had planed on. Pretty tired today and not really motivated. Managed a 23 mph pace for the ride....not to bad. The last 7 miles I maintained a 30 mph pace...heart rate was about 175 bpm! It was a good way to end the ride. Should be a nice riding weekend with winds out of the NW at 7 mph....not sure where I am going to ride....but what ever route I choose you can be sure that it will be long. Like to do another 100+ ride on Saturday and a light ride on Sunday. Still early in the week and the weather can change!

Another day in the garage. I set out to do 30 miles and I did my 30 miles. The first 10 miles I kept a 23 mph pace the second 10 miles I bumped it up to about 24 and the last 10 miles I bumped it up again to 25.5 mph pace. Funny story though…about mile 7 I dropped my sweat rag so I stopped to pick it up off of the floor. I straddled the bike and placed my feet on the sides of the trainer….well I lost my footing and slipped. Luckily, I was able to catch myself by grabbing the countertop of my tool bench….but in doing so, I strained a muscle in my shoulder so bad that I almost blacked out from the pain. Well I sat back up on my bike and with in a couple of minutes…the pain went away!! I think that I was already filled with adrenaline and endorphins….I’m sure I’ll feel it later. As long as it doesn’t prevent me from riding…I really don’t care, that’s what aspirin is for!!