Training this week was quite uneventful – the usual strength, endurance and interval training with no great results or anything that would, frankly, tell me I have made great strides in my fitness.  

So, with that background, I am going to change gears a bit this week and address one of my favorite or least favorite subjects – littering in St. Charles, Kane County and, frankly, anywhere else.

Typically, once you get out of the city, any cyclist falls in love with the scenery, lack of traffic and just the peace of mind that comes with riding free and easy on your bike. That said, the amount of litter that I encounter on roads like Campton Hills, Anderson Road, Route 64 and – unfortunately – many others is disgusting.

I just don’t get it.

If Budweiser, Miller, Corona, or Mountain Dew would like me to do a marketing study for them I would be able to tell them the best selling brands, can and bottles that get thrown to the curbs and shoulders of our roads. Beyond those cans and bottles would have to be McDonald bags and then (believe it or not) entire bags of garbage. Shame on all of you guilty of doing this!

That said, I am curious (via comments and other notes to the Kane County Chronicle) how many of you would be interested in organizing a Saturday cleanup of our roads. I am sure there are businesses in town that would get behind this as well.

As I said in the beginning of this blog, not much on the training front but certainly some strong opinions on how we treat our environment.

As usual – pedal hard and don’t look back.
 

I was watching the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California today. A spectacular American race.

Great scenery as they rode along the Pacific Ocean for most of the day! Great riders – as some of the top ranked cyclists in the world – realize the importance of this race. A great variety of teams – as world class teams, as well as continental teams – are represented in this race!

But one of the great quotes that really hit me today was from a Columbian cyclist who rode with Lance Armstrong in the heady days of USPS- and Discovery Channel-sponsored teams.

His name is Victor Hugo Pena, 37 years old. No spry young chicken by cycling standards. Anyway, he now rides for a strictly Colombian team, trying to get back to the level of riding they were known for in the '90’s and early 2000s.

At the end of his interview, he simply stated, “Dreams are free."

I thought what a great attitude to have regardless of whether you’re cycling or just trying to make a go of it at whatever you do.

So on to some personal thoughts. I had a good week. I rode for five straight days. I have been disciplined enough to get up early and get some interval training in as well as some hills (remember they do exist here, you just have to find them).

There are times when it is not easy to want to get up and ride. That is where today’s random thought entered my mind. When it becomes work is it training and no longer riding. And does it become less fun?

It doesn’t really matter, I guess, as we all have objectives and goals and we do what we must to reach them.

As usual – pedal hard and don’t look back.

Not sure this can be called a cycling blog today.

I have been on the road since April 29, with a few more days to go before getting back on the bike. In the meantime, there is good news and bad news.

The bad news first – I have not been on my bike since April 28. In fact, I am worried that I have forgotten how to ride a bike.

Now the good news – I have actually worked out every day but one since starting this most recent journey.  I am doing a lot of stairmaster (Precor) work and weights, when the hotel has a decent fitness center.

Last year, I mentioned the importance of music during my indoor workouts. At first it was all heavy metal – AC/DC, Metallica and Rammstein. Then I turned to some mellower stuff.

This year, I am absolutely addicted to Mumford and Sons. Some pretty heavy duty lyrics that (I think) lean heavy on spirituality and love or a combination of the two.

No races scheduled, as of yet, until early June. I also found out one of my neighbors will be headed down to Springfield as well for the Senior Olympics.

Luckily for me, he is a couple of years older and in another age group. It’s one thing to get beat by some young 50+ year old. A completely different one to get beat by a peer.

As usual – pedal hard and don’t look back.