The week is already over?  It appears that I am experiencing some serious ground hog day syndrome.    Meaning, work during the week, then my long ride on Saturday, a weekend that blows by and I’m up doing it again.  That is definitely where I am at this moment.  There is no sleeping in either.  I have four….yes four cats.  No, I’m not a crazy cat lady, at least not yet.  But would that really be a bad thing?  Living with four cats means, you do not sleep in…at all.  I’ve never been one to sleep in as a child or of course the US Army.  To me sleeping in is about 0600.  If you ever catch me sleeping in until 0800 then there must have been some serious shenanigans happening the night before.

I was extra proud of myself this Saturday as I got up at 0500 and out the door by 0600.  It’s dark at that time in Phoenix now, but I can’t let that stop me.  I purchased a new light for my bike.  It is obnoxiously bright.  So bright if you look at it too long you feel sick.

I know there are some women who love bright shiny things.  I have never really been one of those gals.  Sure, I like beautiful things, but give me gear or books.  If I had a choice I would spend my money on cycling (or running) gear and the rest of it in the book store.  This segways into the fact I needed new shoes.  The cycling shoes I started with were great, but I think they could have been a half size larger.  Now that I’m putting in a lot of miles I can really feel it in my feet.  Here are my new shoes:

See how they sparkle! My heart just skips a beat and there are diamonds inside!  One interesting aspect of this purchase is the clips.  For seasoned cyclists this may seem basic, but I didn’t have a good clip on the other shoe.  This one is broader and will be better for me.  Of course with new shoes and clips I found out the pedals I had wouldn’t support the new clips and I had to buy new pedals.  I tell ya, every time I walk into Global Bikes® I spend money.  But here they are and they are so pretty.  What do you think I should call them?

On the advice of a friend I decided to try some new gels.  I purchased Accel ™ from Pacific Health Labs – Link here: http://www.pacifichealthlabs.com/.

Review:  Overall I’m pleased with my first purchase.  When you visit the site they have protein powders and some other products for sale.  It was a good selection of products and not so much choice where you feel overwhelmed looking through the site.  It was simple and easy to order and the price is great.  I ordered a box of ten assorted gels and a box of 2nd Surge gels (6ea).  It arrived fairly quickly and if you really need it fast then of course you can pay more for postage.  One thing about gels, for me at least, is the texture, overly sweet and sometimes a little nausea that follows after I eat one.  I love sweets, but I don’t like that sticky, syrupy sweet stuff.  Which is hard to get away from with gels.  These are not as sweet or viscous.  I also didn’t get that little pang of nausea that sometimes happens after taking a gel.  I did feel a burst of energy and there was no crash.  General overview – I liked them better than the Gu ™ gel.  I used two gels on my long ride, one regular then the 2nd surge on an hourly basis and felt a constant energy flow with no crashing no nausea.  I will definitely try them again – you should give them a shot.

This week I had two 9 mile rides during the week and then my long ride on Saturday.  As I mentioned before, I was out of the house by 0615 and the goal was to ride for 3.5 hours.  I was hoping that being out at that time there would be less traffic, but I was surprised that quite a few people were out.  A combination of “getting away for the weekend” and most likely errands for most.  Douche bag level alert was high. Drivers were in no mood for cyclists and had to get things done.  I was honked, buzzed and cut in front of….what’s that you say…yes the f bomb was dropped.  It seems to roll so eloquently off the tongue in this situation.  What?!  I try to behave, but sometimes it’s really just too much.  It’s usually someone sipping their latte and on the phone or going to a garage sale.

I felt really good on this ride.  I didn’t have any of the mental obstacles I did the week before, I wasn’t clock watching (as much) and I’m covering more miles faster.  My pace was 13.4 this week, up from 12.7 and 13.1 weeks before.  I’m not too worried about pace.  Almost everyone I discuss cycling with is all about the speed.  I will submit that’s a great goal to get faster but I’m more concerned about distance and completion.  Those have always been my primary goals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My long ride this week was 48.39!  Another new first!  Grateful!  The weather was cooler than last week and I think this helped me.

The mileage for this week came to 67.60 miles.  Feeling good and ready for next week’s challenge of 4 hours.  Total miles completed 3776.83 with 7538.34 remaining.  I can’t wait…every mile is an adventure.  Happy Miles To You!