After having to hit the trainer Wednesday night (after 2 blissful weeks being able to avoid it), I had to get outside again. Yesterday afternoon in Hartford was sunny and near 70. But when I got home to Saybrook, it was cold and foggy - one of the downsides of living near the ocean. Not the weather I'd hoped for, but certainly not the weather that'd keep me indoors.
The shot above is familiar to long-time readers - it's the causeway across South Cove linking Fenwick Borough to Old Saybrook proper. Going this direction, if there's any wind, it's usually a tailwind. Except this time. No matter - just get in the drops and keep pedaling.
But of course, stop for the view:
This is Fenwick, looking particularly moody and spooky, the ghosts of the grand old summer homes just starting to rouse themselves for the season.
My workout plan (such as it is) called for a tempo ride, so it was fun not to have to worry about my HR alert going off at the top of zone 2. I could go as hard as I wanted - as long as I didn't let my effort drop. So I was crusin'. My 20 mile training loop is fairly flat, with some rollers, but I clicked it off in under an hour - despite the wind.
Checked my odometer after I got home. Should have done it on the road. I'm 3.16 miles short of breaking 1000 miles for the year. I thought I was a little behind, but just confirmed that I'm hitting that milestone about the same time this year as last year. After last night's hard ride, my legs are tired so I'll probably only do the rollers tonight, but even so I'll get my grand.
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In racing news, I've signed up to do the Pro1/2/3 race at Bethel on Sunday. This is in addition to the Cat3/4. And, yes, the P123 race right after the 3/4. Best I've done at Bethel this season is 20th. What am I thinking?
Well, I was reminded that the Ninigret races in Rhode Island I was planning on doing later this month don't offer a Cat3 race. 3s can only race Pro1/2/3 or Masters 35+ (basically the same thing, just older - read: even more experienced).
So might as well jump into the deep end of the pool Sunday and see how long I can stay in. As with everything else racing-wise this season, it's about learning, not placing. And if I get dropped, so be it. I'll enjoy the motorpacing while it lasts.
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In non-bike news (didn't think that was possible, eh?), the Mrs. & I have been doing a lot of reading by the fire - one consolation of the long New England winters. I'm in the middle of The Red Leather Diary and How to Read Literature Like a Professor - actually, so is the Mrs. since I'm reading those to her while she knits (wow, it really sounds like we're a couple of old people now. And yes, we have cats curled up at our feet too, in case you were wondering). For filler, during lunch breaks, etc., I'm (re)reading a lot of F. Scott Fitzgerald, but can only take his sadness in small doses.
But I recently finished two amazing books: The Mercy of Thin Air and The Dante Club. Thin Air is probably one of the most beautiful & poignant novels I've read. I'm a fan of the time-travel aspects of ghost stories - ghosts are basically people from the past visiting the present. And the way the author interlaces the story of the Flapper who died too young with the modern young couple is amazing. The author's theory of the afterlife is creative and well-reasoned, but requires you to buy-in if you're going to get the story. Like most fiction I suppose. It's mostly a story of how love transcends time, space & even death. If you liked The Time Traveler's Wife, you'll really like The Mercy of Thin Air.
Ok, after all that emotion, I needed something more visceral (if not eviscerating)...
The Dante Club is historical fiction about a real-life club of poets in post-Civil War Boston (Longfellow, Fields, Holmes, Lowell), engaged in a real-life project (the first American translation of Dante's Divine Comedy), who work together to solve a series of grusome murders performed according to punishments depicted in Dante's Inferno (that's the fictional part).
I lost way too much sleep this past week staying up to read it, it was that good. If you like your murder mysteries with a heavy dose of literature and history, this is the perfect novel for you.
If you read - or have read - either of these books, I'd really like to know what you think about them.
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Happy Friday and good luck if you're racing this weekend!
I think I saw you heading south on 154 - I was heading back from the grocery store (and only dreaming of riding at that point). By the time I was free to get out and ride it was both dark (no big deal on its own) and foggy, which makes for pretty lethal conditions.
That causeway is one of my favorite routes.
Posted by: ChrisB. | April 03, 2009 at 01:26 PM