Season of Expectation
Southcentral Alaska has 4 seasons. Summer, Dark, Winter, and Breakup. Summers are usually colder than they should be, and then it starts to rain. At least the days are long. Just when it starts to dry up, it gets colder and the light goes away. With no snow on the ground and all of the green stuff turning brown, it can get pretty bleak. Then winter hits, and the weather is usually completely wrong for whatever you want to do at that moment. Finally, Breakup hits and you burn through gallons of windshield wiper fluid, trying to see through the steady stream of dirty road spray. There's a slightly fecal hint to the air, as a winter's worth of dog poop thaws.
It really does no good to complain about the weather. You either embrace it, or you remain miserable. The weather could really care less.
For some, Breakup is just a dirty, nasty, stinky time of year. For me, it's a season of expectation. The days get longer. The long-absent sun warms you, even on days when it would otherwise be cold. The snow piles fade away, uncovering things you had forgotten were there ("hey, I have a lawn!"). Most importantly, though, it's a time when a whole summer of opportunities lays before you.
I tore my bikes down one by one, and replaced whatever needed to be replaced. I made a few small upgrades here and there to keep the bikes new and exciting, Essentially I made amends for neglecting and abusing them during the Dark season, then dripping sweat all over them while on the trainer. I'm hoping this will result on good karma for the coming season. Only time will tell.
I've started the arcane ritual of gluing tubular tires on my race wheels, a task that usually results in a large mess. I figure it's better to make a large mess than to have a insufficiently-glued tire come off the wheel at speed. That would make for a short season.
I've also started tapering off my weight loss regime, since I managed to meet my goal for the season. I can now say that I weigh less than a professional cyclist. That cyclist happens to be 6'5" and probably is translucent in direct sunlight, but I still consider it a win. I'm curious to see what this weight loss will mean in the real world.
My first test comes in just over two weeks, during the first race of the season. It's a Moose Run time trial, which was the first course I ever raced. Last year I won the first Moose Run TT, thanks to the careful planning of Janice, and then proceeded to destroy all of her hard work over the course of the season. Hopefully I won't repeat that, but I can make no promises. When the sun is out and the roads are dry, sometimes doing intervals until you puke just isn't where your heart is.
It won't be long now.
It really does no good to complain about the weather. You either embrace it, or you remain miserable. The weather could really care less.
For some, Breakup is just a dirty, nasty, stinky time of year. For me, it's a season of expectation. The days get longer. The long-absent sun warms you, even on days when it would otherwise be cold. The snow piles fade away, uncovering things you had forgotten were there ("hey, I have a lawn!"). Most importantly, though, it's a time when a whole summer of opportunities lays before you.
I tore my bikes down one by one, and replaced whatever needed to be replaced. I made a few small upgrades here and there to keep the bikes new and exciting, Essentially I made amends for neglecting and abusing them during the Dark season, then dripping sweat all over them while on the trainer. I'm hoping this will result on good karma for the coming season. Only time will tell.
I've started the arcane ritual of gluing tubular tires on my race wheels, a task that usually results in a large mess. I figure it's better to make a large mess than to have a insufficiently-glued tire come off the wheel at speed. That would make for a short season.
I've also started tapering off my weight loss regime, since I managed to meet my goal for the season. I can now say that I weigh less than a professional cyclist. That cyclist happens to be 6'5" and probably is translucent in direct sunlight, but I still consider it a win. I'm curious to see what this weight loss will mean in the real world.
My first test comes in just over two weeks, during the first race of the season. It's a Moose Run time trial, which was the first course I ever raced. Last year I won the first Moose Run TT, thanks to the careful planning of Janice, and then proceeded to destroy all of her hard work over the course of the season. Hopefully I won't repeat that, but I can make no promises. When the sun is out and the roads are dry, sometimes doing intervals until you puke just isn't where your heart is.
It won't be long now.
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