Making progress

Yesterday I did the Wednesday nite ride at the Old Stone Church in West boylston. Usually I don't get to ride on wednesday nites, but when I do it's fun. Compared to the first time I did the ride, I've definitely improved and gotten stronger. The first time, we took Laurel street to holden, up Elmwood to Ball Hill, then to princeton center. My memory of that first ride was "holy shit these guys are fast." On the first climb up Elmwood and jefferson rd, I got dropped. Luckily they slowed down a bit, but not quite enough for me to recover. By the time I got to brook station road, they were long gone. There was a 2 other people near me. I tried my best to grind up Ball Hill road, but there was no chance of me catching them.

The next time I did the WNR, I did better and managed to hang on until the top of ball hill road. Fast forward 2 years and things are different. For the first half of the ride, I can just hang on the climbs. I'm still at the back of the group, but I'm ok with that. Compared to 2011, my avg mph up the climbs are 2-3mph faster. On a good day, I can hold the wheel in front of me.

Without a doubt I've gotten stronger, but the fast guys are even faster now. That's a good thing and gives me motivation. The downside is that my training sucks. I have no rhyme or reason to how I train. I don't have a plan or schedule laid out. Every day I look forward to my ride and just ride. I'm too happy to be riding to think about how I should be training. The thing, I'm ok with that. I ride for health and fun. For me, it's not about racing or killing myself. The act of spinning up a steep hill makes me happy. I don't know how much more progress I can make without getting serious about training, but I don't really care. At the end of the day, I'm just happy to be healthy and energetic. I hope to keep it up and live to 100. My ultimate goal is to ride a century when I am 100. I want to live long enough to see my great grandchildren. If I'm lucky and live healthy, maybe I'll live long enough to see my great great grandchildren.

Skratch Labs exercise hydration - holy pineapple batman

I am a creature of habit. 3 days a week I ride the same exact lunch route. When I go to a restaurant, I always order the same thing. When I get coffee, I get the same thing. I've been using Skratch Labs since last year. Up until last week, I always used the same lemon/lime flavor. Why change flavor when I know what I like.

My son in contrast loves to try new things and new flavors. Back in March I got a few free samples of other flavors with my usual order of lemon/lime. My son tried it and like it, so I bought a box of variety packs. Last week I ran out of lemon/lime and was heading out for a long ride. What do I do? Rather than get dehydrated on a long ride, I decided to try the pineapple and orange.

To my surprise the pineapple kicks ass! If someone asked me "what flavor do you want on a long hard ride?" Pineapple wouldn't be in the top 10. Now that's changed. The pineapple is refreshing, light and a joy to drink. The first taste of pineapple was on a flat going about 25mph. Instead of the usual "Blech, what is this fruity garbage from gatoraid?" I felt refreshed. Before there was Skratch, I used to use Gatoraid lemon/lime. When I was in my teens, the sickly sweet Gatoraid flavors were fine. After my teens, Gatoraid is just too sweet and hard to swallow. Last year my kids got me a 8 pack of orange Gatoraid. Seriously, that is some haneous stuff. When it's super cold right out of the freezer like a slushy, it's ok. In any other form, it's just too darn sweet. Enough bashing Gatoraid.

Skratch guys thank you for an awesome product. You've changed my hydration routine and made me a believer in great taste. Now, when I run out of lemon/lime my first thought isn't "doh! I forgot to place an order." I look forward to trying the other flavors. I'm still a creature of habit and lemon/lime will still be the flavor I drink 80% of the time. The other 20% is a nice change of pace.