Checking In

It has been way too long since my last post but that is how it goes in the off-season.  You loose track of your regular cycling routine and that is a good thing.  Since the last time I checked in I have had some good time off the bike, relaxed nights, completed house chores that get neglected in the summer, doing a strength training program, and planning for 2012.

I am now back on the bike in what I like to call a maintenance period.  This is where I ride the snow bike for fun to get back in the saddle and bring back the feeling of the endless crouch.  Also referred to as TITS (time in the saddle), as my good friend Chris P. likes to refer to it as.  All this is done on the new Surly Moonlander.  During my off time I have continued a rigorous strength training schedule.  Although being off the bike for 6 weeks my cross training tends to carry over some fitness to the bike so that the maintenance period is not so rough.  As I have in the past, I am posting a video to show you a bit of how I strength train in the off season.  This style of exercise correlates with the bike a lot.  It does not have a direct connection to cycling fitness but it brings up the general fitness, strength, and mental capacity that is all used while racing your bike.  Enjoy!

Next week I am going to head down to Madison and visit my friend (brother from another mother) Nathan G. for CX Nationals.  I'm excited to meet his and Lindsay s new addition to the family, Micah.  I'm also excited to watch my cycling peers suffer the pain of the bike in January.  (Good luck to Tyler J. going for the bars and stripes) Through the month of January I will slowly increase my maintenance time and decrease my cross training until I have made the full transfer back to the bike.  Hopefully the favorable winter conditions continue until my training camp in AZ in March.  I can not believe its getting to be that time again.