First 2010 Commute

My daughter took her bike out for a spin yesterday (Wednesday), going to the local ice cream shop and catching me completely flat footed. I pumped up her tires and raised her seat although I'm 98% certain she's outgrown the bike. I still need to oil her chain and make sure of other preparations on the bike. This makes me realize that I must get my commuter ready. I want to try and ride it in tomorrow. One of the things this means is changing out the bike computer battery and pressing all the byzantine buttons for time, odometer and wheel size (so I know when I'm maxing out at 13.6 mph).

Today is Thursday (I casually note this since I'm not sure I'll post today) and I elected to sleep in today. I'm in motivational trouble so we'll (meaning me) just have to see how/if I get out of it. I must atone tomorrow in the gym, I plan on doing this by riding my bike in, doing 20 mins on the stair climber, 20 mins on the elliptical, MAYBE 20 mins on the bike (intervals), some ABS, some dynamic stretching, and a little puking. I hope I do it or most of it anyway. It will require being up at 4am though.

Friday, at 4:45am I'm on the road after spending a fair amount of time last night with my son getting everything ready (oiling chains, changing batteries on various computers, pumping the tires, packing panniers) - THANKS SON! So I'm finally on the road doing something which was commuting to work.

It was quiet, the temp was fine, legs felt great, it was fantastic and I loved it! It took about 15 minutes.

So I get to the gym and decide to live the vision.

• 20min Elliptical AvgHR 130 (64% MaxHR)
• 20min StairClimber AvgHR 145 (71% MaxHR) - Max HR for the day of 172.
• 20min Upright Bike AvgHR 151 (74% MaxHR)

This was followed by doing these dynamic stretches Diablo showed me (they involve a resistance band and look sorta like this:

But when I do them it's more like this, but not as flexible:

I followed those up with a leisurely cool down gait on the treadmill for ten minutes. During that time, while staggering on, drinking a G2, I felt the pleased presence of MegaGiraffe or endorphins, maybe both. As I wrap up today's entry I can tell you that my muscles, having gotten over their shock at this assault are phoning in their displeasure. That should make for a wonderful ride home.

My daughter ::waves at daughter:: sent me the following two videos. The first would be a riot to try in the gym, the second at IronMan's house since I figure he's the only one who has the know how on how to build it. JRock sent me an article on fiber which I plan to discuss on Monday.



Have a great weekend!