As the sun sets on another week, I have things to celebrate, this the second week at Camp PedalWORKS.
I purchased a vacuum to clean the pine floors at the cottage. The floors had never seen a vacuum before. They were accustomed to frequent sweeping and Murphy Oil baths. I was amazed, really amazed, at how much dirt and dust was captured by the upright. For years, dirt had accumulated unnoticed between the cracks in the boards. It took a week of daily vacuuming to remove it all.
I also cleaned the oven for the first time in at least 25 years. I am a vegetarian, stove top cooker, and never really wandered into the oven. Now that it sparkles, I’m tempted to start baking again. And here I thought I needed to replace the stove.
More importantly, well maybe more importantly, I began cycling regularly. Apart from 2 days of rain, I have been cycling every day. It was my goal to average 200-250 km a week by the end of June. Last week I cycled 241 km, and I’m certain as the warmer, drier weather takes hold, I will be cycling much farther. So, from that standpoint, I am ahead of schedule.
I have started a polarized training schedule, meaning that I spend 80% of my cycling time in heart rate Zone 1 and 20% in Zone 4. Well, I did spend 81% in Zone 1 but 0% in Zone 4. Zero! That’s because there are no hills in this area. None. Well, there is a .5 km hill nearby with a 5% grade but it doesn’t really tax me or get my heart rate up even when I push. I need longer hills. Once a week, beginning next week, I’m going to head over to the the Niagara Escarpment where there are 5-6 km climbs where I can do meaningful hill repeats, the holy grail of the road cyclist.
I also spent the week on the small chainring. The goal is to maintain a 90-100 rpm cadence. Well, I almost did. I averaged 86 rpm over the 241 km. I’m happy with this. On these cold, wet mornings, it takes me 5-10 km to warm up. Once I am, I found I could easily maintain 90-100 rpm except when heading into a strong hurting wind.
One last thing, one other goal I have while at Camp PedalWORKS is to lose 7-8 pounds to get back to my optimum cycling weight. In the last 2 weeks, I have lost ~ 4 pounds largely because of a simpler, more natural diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. If this continues, I will be at my optimum weight in 2-3 weeks.
Reasons to celebrate with a 🍺 tonight.
PedalWORKS 