Back on the Bike

Thanksgiving day and we traveled to Lake Butler, FL. Most of my dad's family is here (relocated from Miami).  The weather down here is fantastic, and I was looking forward to getting back on my trusty Cannondale. I started biking shortly after I sold Genesis and the cycling was a great way to channel my thoughts and emotions during my transition. It took my mind off of the stock market and all of the money that was owed to me that would never be repaid. Anyway, after I changed my diet and started my cycling I lost close to 100#.

I have been cycling for just over 3 years now and I love it. I have raced in several races (Cat 5) and participate in local group and charity rides. I am still a big guy and not your typical cyclist. I can hold my own on a bike, but I still fall short in competitive races. I gotta get my watts per kg up. In other words lose more weight! All that being said, I rode so much that I burned out about 2 months ago and could not even imagine riding. Not even for short rides at low intensity.
Well this trip to florida I started thinking it would be nice to ride again. So, I brought my bike and I headed out this morning. Florida is not known for the best bike riding due to the lack of hills but it brings about it's own set of challenges. First, it is almost dead flat which sounds great but it kinda sucks. You gotta keep pedaling and pedaling there is almost no coasting and it is very reminiscent of riding on rollers. You take it for granted how much you use hilly terrain to your advantage and take small coasting breaks. Second, I have ridden down here many times and I swear it is always windy as a mutha! My luck dictates that I rarely encounter a tailwind. I am a headwind both ways kinda guy!!
I headed out early this morning and it felt good to be back on the bike. I was nervous about how much fitness I had lost. I noticed that my top end has suffered quite badly. I could not manage much over 25 for any length of time. During one of my peaks in the summer I could easily maintain 18-19 for a couple of hours and brief sprints up to 30 were pretty fun and standard to most of my rides. Today, I averaged 16-17 and that was about all I could muster. I only did about an hour worth of riding, but it did wonders for my state of mind.  My state of body is hurting more than I want to admit , but that comes with the territory.
I headed out of Lake City towards Lake Butler, hitting mostly county roads with great scenery. Namely, CR 251 and CR 245. Like I said earlier, less than 2% grade for the entire ride and really windy but if anyone wants some unique riding with some amazing views I suggest this area. The roads are great and where the traffic gets heavier the shoulders get wider. The shoulders are clean too so not much worry about the debris puncture scenario. I may go out again tomorrow depending on how I feel. Is it bad luck to ride on Black Friday?
BTW....I forgot my heart monitor (told you I was out of practice) so I don't have any HR data. My moving speed was 17.1 and my avg power output was 247 watts.