are in full bloom! Wisteria blossoms fill in the empty spaces of still-dormant trees with a purplish-hued cascade of foliage. Dogwood trees dot the landscape with splashes of yellow, white and pink.
Everywhere I turn I see an explosion of color...
and an explosion of pollen!
It's the time of year for extreme contrasts - warmer days, cool nights and frequent storms as nature transitions from dormancy to full force growth and regeneration.
It's also the season when we cyclists transition from limited activity to full-bore training and racing.
The advent of longer days and warmer temps tends to make me want to push myself and go all-out, just from the simple joy of getting out on the bike anytime I want. For me, the hardest part of this time of the year is to reel it in and not fall prey to overtraining.
As a prime example, yesterday I had a goal of riding three hours at my "endurance" pace (HR 149-159 bpm), but because there are hills everywhere I turn, my HR often exceeded 170 bpm, and I frequently observed it in the mid-160s. For the entire ride it averaged 159 bpm, the upper limit of my endurance zone.
That was the same average I managed last week on one of my "brisk" rides, when I was out pushing 20+ mph on the flats. So, am I overtraining on my endurance rides or undertraining on my workouts? Only time will tell.
I have yet to keep a regular training schedule. There are just too many interruptions. But I manage to enjoy the time I do spend riding, and perhaps that's more important than setting and attaining arbitrary performance goals.
If you're riding with a narrow focus all the time, you're bound to miss a lot of pleasurable sights and sensations along the way.
Keep pedaling!
Horatio
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