So far, the riding I've done in Eau Claire has been nothing short of spectacular. Yesterday (Sunday - 3.11.12) and Saturday, I got out for about three hours each day. Saturday I planned to ride that long, but Sunday I hadn't. It's not that I got lost, but I didn't really do a great job of estimating the distance on the old Googley. Oh well, it was an awesome day for a ride, nonetheless.
I headed southwest (southwest? Right?) towards Mondovi, first via County F, then cutting over to County B on Cedar Road. I pedaled straight from B onto Double-B, and that's where it got really fun. So many of the roads I've scoped out here in E.C. are twisty, curvy, and hilly. Just the way I like them. It actually reminds me a lot of riding in Seattle. The hills aren't as big, but there's always another one around the next bend. It really takes the edge off a head-wind - you know you're about to be going uphill in the next few minutes anyway, so it's not like you'd be flying if weren't for the head wind.
I can see, too, that as spring progresses and the trees begin to bloom, many of these country roads will be surrounded by lush, green, fragrant foliage. I can't wait.
Saturday's ride took me to Menominee, pretty much straight west of here, into a really, really wicked head/cross wind coming in west by southwest. It took me two hours to get there, fighting that headwind the whole way on County Roads C and J. Looking back, I probably could've chosen a more interesting route on the way out, but I've only been out on these roads a handful of times. And the rides I did last fall were all on one route that just worked out perfect for the time windows I had available at the time.
In any case, on the way home, I allowed myself to meander a bit from my original plan both to save time, and just to explore a little. There are so many roads out there, I pretty much zig-zagged my way from Menominee to County E, just west of Old Elk Lake. The wind must have shifted a bit, because as I zigged back east, I had a cross/tail wind, and as I zagged south, it was a pretty stiff head wind. Once I hit E, though, I was pretty much a tailwind the whole way back home, which was great. I really needed some help after those first two hours into the wind.
For the rest of this month, I'll look forward to riding outdoors mostly on the weekends. In between, I'm hitting the trainer for about 40 minutes two or three days per week. Just spinning on the power cranks as the boys' nap times allow. Two or three other days per week, I'm hitting the Y for some cardio and light weights. Nothing fancy. Just enough to keep from getting too fat. As the mornings provide earlier light, I'll get rid of the trainer and Y and hit the road outside as much as possible.
Cyclocross is foremost on my mind. It's still six months away, but I'm so excited for it. More on that another time, I suppose.
