A new commute? - January 22, 2011

I know, I know.  It's been a bit.

Really there hasn't been anything to talk about.  I haven't gotten as much riding in as I've wanted due to various reasons beyond my control: being out of town, icy roads, other appointments, etc.

I hope to finish up the month around 400 miles, but that means that I will probably need to do some riding on weekends (which I have been doing better with), nothing long, just getting out.  Commutes have been normal, although I have seen a few more people out.  I am in the process of starting to think about getting the Ibis ready for spring and some of the riding I will be doing.  It's getting lighter out again which is very nice.  See nothing exciting.

The only thing new right now is a possibility that my office will be moving closer to my house.  Man does that bite!

I know that sounds a little backwards, but let me explain.  Right now, through the summer I would be able to ride to and from work and cover nearly 1000 miles a month.  The new place would have me about 400.  That would be great for the winter, but not the summer.  As well with everything else going on, my summer training schedule for the weekend is: one weekend day doing group training, two weekend days doing longer solo rides but start early in the morning facilitating an early return and one weekend off.  This was designed to limit my training to time when I would have been driving anyhow; on the commute.  There is a solution.

I planned out a ride that takes me about 40 miles in the morning with about 2500' of climbing that is variable depending on traffic and time constraints.  I would leave a little earlier for work and get my additional miles in, returning straight to home after work, the remaining 10 miles.  This will give me the 1000 miles a month that I need.  Even better my training time is when everyone else is sleeping and I will get home earlier in the evening then I do now.  It will also almost completely take the second vehicle off the road (not quite, but close) all year round.  Of course nothing about the move has been confirmed.

Right now I need to get my miles up for this month.  I think a couple of short weekend rides are in order if the weather cooperates.  Tomorrow is supposed to be nice (ie, not raining) so maybe a nice short ride before everyone gets up is in order.  I hope to have something interesting in the next few posts, but logistics are a big part of my planning right now.