The Season of Cycling (Or Lack Thereof)

It's official, summer is here.  With summer comes bicycle weekends full of limestone dust and chamois cream followed by evenings on the patio with a fire and, of course, Le Tour.  I knew it was that time of year when my husband pulled his car out of the garage so we could park all the bikes in there.  Our garage is small and in the summer bicycles get precedence over the cars.

However, it seems our season has started much later than usual.  I'm not sure what the cause is (I suspect stress from both our jobs isn't helping), but I'm not happy about it.  So far, we've only made it to one Century Cycles night ride and have yet to do our usual all day Saturday rides.  Looking ahead, the schedule is pretty booked all through the summer.  We'll be heading to Cook's Forest the first week of July and haven't decided if the bikes will be joining us because the dog will (dog hauler is still in development).  We have a couple of blank weekends, then the Mr. heads to Brazil for a week.  After that, we head to Massachusetts for a week and will be taking the bikes to get around.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of weekends that I'll be working, so that will negate any long rides.  Looks like my commutes will be the majority of my bike time this summer and since they're usually about 20mins that bums me out.  I can tell my body is paying for the decrease in bike time and that bums me out even more.  There have been a number of mornings that I've been extremely tempted to pedal past the office.  Even during the rain yesterday, I just wanted to keep on riding.  Unfortunately, there were places to go and things to do.

Lately, the only way I can quickly fit in a ride is to hop on the trainer.  As much as I don't like being inside while the sun is out, its much more schedule friendly.  Riding for training purposes around the city isn't easy because I constantly have to stop or change my pace because of traffic.  During the week, I don't have the time to gear up and head to the Valley for a nice stint at all.

So, I wonder.  What do these people who tweet about long daily rides do for a living?  Do they even work?  Do they have a live-in cook or maid to take care of stuff at home?  Do they get up at 3am or stay up until 1am?  I'm perplexed.  I'd love to have that situation, whatever it is.  Last year, I wasn't working weekends, so we rode about 25+ miles every week.  My job was far less stressful too, so I had plenty of energy to ride after work or get up at 5am.  This summer, however, I feel like something is sucking out all my life so by the time I get home I just want to chill.  And, the Mr. is feeling the same way.  Sheesh.  Is it time to retire yet?

Anyway, this weekend things are looking up.  Saturday night is another CC Night Ride and I desperately hope we can make it.  But, we will both be working all day for a very intense event, so we may end up completely spent by the time we're done.  Sunday, I definitely plan on hitting the Towpath.

I've had enough of the trainer!