That’s it. My body simply cannot take it any more. All this nice weather is taking its toll and a steady stream of riding means that my legs are working overtime.

My 40-year-old body is no longer designed for solid stretch of rides.

Of course, it has only been three straight days. But, those days have resulted in over 60 miles of riding. For many cyclists, that really isn’t that much. But for me, at my current state of fitness, it’s probably twice as much as I should ride.

Monday after work took a new direction this year in that I needed to be concerned about over-heating during the ride. All of the past rides in the spring focus on the right combination of clothes to keep warm. But, with temps in the mid-80′s, warmth is easy to come by.

The ride took me over the usual West Metro roads and into Loretto. Near the town, there is an ugly stretch of road that can hardly call itself “paved”. It has so many years of patches that it’s difficult to know if any of the original tarmac is still there. Plus, it has a nasty hill that approaches 10deg of slope and is a beast to climb.

It was also along that road that I picked up a follower. In a perfect world this wouldn’t bother me, but instead I became a little fixated in his location. He remained a good 1/10th mile behind me and stayed there for at least 5 miles. I even slowed my pace a little in hopes that he would just pass me and get it over with, but he stuck to that same distance.

Once I either lost him or he turned a different route, I picked up another rider going my same pace. This new rider was about 1/2 mile in front of me and also became a fixation for me over the last 8 miles of the ride. I would reel him in closer, only to poop-out on a hill and have him pedal away. I finally caught him right at the point of me turning off the main road and heading toward my house. That was probably for the better, as I really dislike passing other cyclists. The moment is always too awkward.

Those other riders placed an additional toll on my legs, as I adjusted my pace – not for my own good feelings, but to maintain some fixed distance away.

This is the very reason I don’t care to ride with lots of other cyclists on the road. Whether they know it or not, they mess up my whole “zen” of riding the bike – even in nice weather conditions.

Time in the saddle has taken a turn to the “non-existent” due to a job-related travel event this past week. I spent much of the week in Dallas and had no time to exercise either by pedaling or in the hotel gym. That’s actually OK, because my passion for the bike often comes in waves and I wasn’t feeling “it” this week.

Still, even when it’s a little forced, it feels good to be on the bike.

Sunday’s ride was both cold and windy. When temperatures are in the 50′s – it can feel either warmer than expected or cooler than expected. I think it all depends on the humidity. If the air is both moist and cool, it can really cut through any cycling gear and feel cold. Dry air feels 10 degrees warmer than you prepare for. Sunday was clearly on the cold/wet side and I was chilly for most of the ride.

Heading out to my usual stomping ground in Medina, I changed up my planned route mid-ride in hopes of spreading out the impact of the south-eastern wind. Instead of the intended out-n-back approach, I cut south on Hunter Drive and connected up with County Road 6. The goal was to face some of the wind early in the ride, instead of the entire return portion of the loop. This would introduce more northern direction riding than I originally intended.

There were plenty of other cyclists on the road and I was in a waving mood so I tried to be friendly. I still kept to my rule of not waving to anyone with aerobars – which meant that I only attempted to acknowledge about one-in-three cyclists on the road. The west metro is still infested with wanna-be triathletes. They are easy to spot from long distances because they tend to swerve all around the road.

The last few miles were no fun as I hit the wind head-on. My lack of steady miles was revealed and my legs staged the usual protest.

Let’s hope that it was my last ride where I am trying to recover from a week away from the saddle.

Maybe for some, the weather this past Sunday morning was not ideal. After all, it was cool (temps in the mid-50s), it was wet from overnight rain showers, and it was misting. There was a steady haze over everything, as the humidity was pegged out at 100%. It had a damp, muggy feel to the air. A steady mist coated the front of my bike and made it hard to see out of my glasses.

It was an awesome environment for a bike ride.

I enjoy riding in wet, Springtime conditions. Sure, 70s temperature, lots of sunshine, and mild winds are considered “ideal” for most cyclists. But they are also really boring.

I like a little adversity to the ride. Plus, there is something very calming about riding in the mist. People hide inside during this type of weather, so there is much more solitude on the bike. Nature is a little more quiet, yet also alive with birds singing and branches rustling. Nature itself becomes part of the riding experience and reminds me that I am just a simple, un-impactful part of its existence.

This was my ride on Sunday morning.

Saturday was a different story, as I had sunshine and warmer conditions. I chose to head north toward Corcoran and see some roads that I have not yet traveled in 2012. Straight out of Corcoran, I headed west on County Road 50 and was greeted with the countryside of my youth. Every 1/2 mile was segmented into a new farm site and many of the freshly-planted fields had the perfect ridges of a Japanese zen garden.

Saturday’s ride was a good one, but I suffered the pain associated with a 10 day break from the bike. Springtime riding only works when I am getting steady miles into my body. Even small breaks seem to reset everything and lose any gains that I may have made the week before.

With Saturday’s miles in my legs (plus a sore back from some much-needed yard work on Saturday), I was a little hesitant to jump on the bike Sunday morning. But a quick glance outside and I knew that I would like the ride.

My planned route was going to be sub-20 miles, so I knew my aching muscles could pull it off. This time I chose south and worked my way through Long Lake and toward Lake Minnetonka. After hitting the bike trail back toward Wayzata, I worked my way through town and approach my house from the south along Vicksburg Lane.

Sunday’s ride was not a ride meant for speed (too many obstacles and legs that did not want to pedal). It was a ride targeted to the joys of riding on a wet, Spring morning.

Although I have not been documenting every ride that I have taken over the past few weeks, it has nothing to do with lack of time in the saddle. These past two weeks have presented enough of the perfect opportunities to be on the bike that I would feel terribly guilty if not taking advantage of the situation and jump on the bike.

Thus, the prior week I had a near 100 mile week (just a little over 98 miles to be exact) and this week has been a respectable 73 miles.

Normally, my March mileage would be haphazard – at best – because the opportunities to ride would be dependent on radical swings in the weather. A warm 50 degree day would be followed by overnight snow and cold, windy temps in the 20s.

2012 Minnesota March has been behaving much more like a typical May. Temps in the 70s, sporadic rain followed by bright sunshine, the green grass growing, the trees budding – it’s like the whole spring season has jumped ahead by two months.

Prior years, I would have eased into the whole cycling thing with limited miles, slow pace, and many breaks in-between rides. My fitness would be slow to take hold. There was plenty of time to build a base of conditioning that would eventually lead to longer and faster rides – but all leading to performance much later in the season.

But with weather like we’ve been having, I can’t help but ramp up the cycling. Four or five rides a week are not typical March cycling experiences. On the positive side, I am riding strong and hitting average speeds that would be normal for mid-June. On the negative side, my body is feeling my 40-year-old age and aching from head-to-toe.

With the forecast calling for more moderate weather, I don’t see any signs of letting up and giving myself a much-needed rest. Still, I would rather suffer a little pain and soreness than sit inside while calm, 60+ temperatures are outside just begging to be experienced firsthand.

The “Epic March Weather” continues to be epic and taunts all Minnesotans to abandon any indoor activities for a sweet taste of the outside life. Living in a part of the country where the winter months mean limited outside exposure, these unseasonable conditions seem extra sweet and brings smiles to my face – just because.

Thus, riding after work was mandatory – no choice in the matter at all.

I cannot recall a March-based ride where I contemplated donning a basic kit – bib-shorts, jersey, socks and nothing else. In the end, I did choose a long-sleeve base layer but only because some of the low areas near still-frozen bodies of water can see a dramatic 10-15 degree F drop. But, with later afternoon temperatures still in the high-60s, it’s hard to see this ride as anything other than a mid-summer jaunt.

With four rides in the past five days, I decided to keep this one short. Plus, I needed to get back home for the usual father-based duties and ensure my daughter got something to eat at a reasonable hour.

My targeted ride was a simple loop on many of my usual roads in Medina. The bike feels really good this early – even though my legs were starting to rebel at another consecutive day in the saddle and did NOT want to go up hills. But, that is a “sweet” sort of pain, because I have enough experience to know that the struggles today will only improve my conditioning for future, summer riding.

In the past, I have felt a little guilty of a shorter ride (this ride only covered 13 miles in 45 minutes), but I realize that any time in the saddle is valuable. I would rather get in a few shorter, consistent rides over the course of a few days than to wait three or four days for a bigger, two hour plus ride. This mentality is surely a factor of my age as I begin to accept lesser goals and appreciate any time doing something I love.

In addition to wearing shorts during a mid-March ride, my day was also treated with the arrival of Bike Snob NYC‘s new book – The Enlightened Cyclist. I had pre-ordered it from Amazon and wasn’t expecting it until later in the month. But, it must have arrived early from the publisher and I was grateful to receive my copy a few days early. Clearly, Bike Snob NYC is a kindred spirit of mine and I both understand and adore his cycling philosophies.

Holy cow, what a day. In what can only be confirmed as evidence of global warming, it was nearly “hot” outside. Combine that with the recent shift to daylight savings time and an afterwork ride for me became mandatory.

A quick check that sunset was around 7:20pm and I was on the road before 5:30pm. I knew that my conditioning wouldn’t take me all the way to the sunset deadline, but I committed to myself a full hour or riding.

My route took me west, as usual, and over the far-too-numerous hills that litter the Medina countryside. There is no “ease into cycling” for my neighborhood, so I am quickly exposed the rigors of pounding up inclines. This is no small task when my legs have only been exposed to the flat, monotonous pedal strokes of an indoor trainer for the last 4 months.

But, I have put in the time and feel unusually good on the bike this early in the season. I want to improve on my performance in 2011 and ramp my mileage back up to my 2010 levels. That means a firm commitment to 100 miles a week and a good number of 30+ mile rides.

If the weather keeps up with the past few days, that goal should not be too much of a challenge. As a lifelong Minnesotan, it is strange to see such warmth so early. The ice on the lakes is turning black and may not make it through the week with predicted 70+ degree days. This is easily a month early and hopefully provides the right circumstances to increase my time in the saddle.

Looking back at the cycling records of prior years, mid-March is the real time where I start the steady-riding cycling season. There may still be signs of winter around with snow-covered ditches, but the warm air clears off the roads and provide 40+ degree days. All of this is my trigger to transition from the doldrums of indoor cycling into the joy of riding on real roads.

This past weekend was an ideal way to start the season as we enjoyed two record-setting warm days with temperatures at 60+F for both days. The only negative of those wonderful temperatures was they were accompanied by strong 15+ mph winds from the south. But it was not enough of a deterrent to keep me off the roads.

Saturday’s ride was intended to get the cobwebs out and re-learn the whole outdoor-riding skill. Earlier in the day, I had a welcome invite to watch one of my nephews at a 7th grade basketball tournament. As soon as I got home, though, I was itching to take advantage of the sun and the warmth and I pulled the bike out of the basement.

In typical fashion, I overdressed and was prepared for conditions that should have been 15 degrees cooler. I did want to try out a new cycling jacket that I bought on sale. It was a light wind-breaker with mild rain-shedding properties by Sugio. It was also the brightest color known to man (or woman) – ensuring a safe ride in full visibility of every motorist sharing the road (and likely the astronauts on the International Space Station). But, within the first mile I was overheated and the jacket was delegated to my back pocket. It will need to be tested another, much-cooler day.

The ride kept a higher pace than I expected – but that is probably due to the time I have been putting into the bike on the rollers. I’ve found that the rollers are more accommodating to riding in front of the TV and have been catching up on the 2nd season of the Battlestar Galactica series on a steady basis. Thus, I’m in fairly good shape for the beginning of the season. Instead of starting with 16 mph average rides, I’m already at the mid-17 mph level. They say rollers also smooth out your pedal stroke, but I’m not sure that I have seen signs of that.

Sunday came around and another ride was mandatory. With a little stronger windspeed, I was a little concerned that it would be a miserable ride. But, it turned out okay and I enjoyed it heavily (but for the few miles of 15mph headwind in the final leg of the ride). I learned my lesson from Saturday’s ride and dressed more appropriately. I probably still had one too many base layers but was only mildly warm.

For both days, the roads were filled with other cyclists. Everyone had the same idea as me. I expressed in past posts my love/hate relationship with meeting other cyclists on the road (Do I wave? Do I ignore them? Why don’t triathletes wave back?). I chose to keep my waving to myself and only acknowledged someone if they were the first to extend a greeting.

I guess I am turning into a grumpy old cyclist. It’s just that … I don’t do well in crowds.

There aren’t too many movies that engage me and turn my emotions. I’m kind of an “even-keel” sort of guy and don’t really have extreme ups or downs. But, apparently the recent Star Trek reboot knows exactly how to get inside me and push the right buttons. That movie is awesome and I smile continuously throughout the whole thing. Thus, a Saturday viewing this past weekend kept me in a good mood throughout.

It was a good enough mood that I had to get on the bike and try for an outdoor ride. The weather cooperated on Sunday afternoon with low-40s temps and a steady (but rideable) wind in the low teens from the south. 40 degree temperatures are my official ticket to ride outside (I don’t like the 30′s) and I bundled up to get some much-needed time in my legs.

Up until this point, my rides have been taking place in the basement. I’ve been doing pretty well, with a solid four or five rides each week. This is most likely due to my recent purchase of rollers. Earlier in the winter, I borrowed my brother’s rollers to try them out and see if I liked them. Finding that they were a superior experience to my fixed, fluid trainer, I bought my own set and have been putting in the miles when I get a chance.

I won’t lie when I say that my primary motivation involves my weight. This past winter, I put on more pounds that I usually do and find myself a good 15 pounds heavier than I would like to be.

Probably too much beer.

But, I’ve mended some of my eating ways and engaged in the bike with hopes of knocking down some of the extra tonnage. There is nothing like spending a hour on the bike in my local, rolling hills to make me sweat and earn some of the burned calories. Unfortunately, this also comes with sore muscles – but it’s still worth it.

Sunday’s ride hit the usual roads – leading out the Lake Independence and through the non-existent town of Medina. It is never flat and I am either climbing or descending. In the middle of the summer (with hundreds of miles in my legs) this can be a good thing. For the first significant ride of the season – it’s torturous. My legs have lost all of their snap and just cannot generate the power to push. Thus, ever hill eventually was summited in my granny-gear and I had to accept that I was back to square-one with my fitness levels.

Of course – that’s not all bad news. If anything, it simply gives me the motivation to get out there and suffer some more. I don’t have my own version of “Scotty” in my body – so any added power has to be earned.

For several years, I’ve had a Mac Mini computer hooked up to an HDTV in my basement. This has been an awesome arrangement, because it allows for quick changes between normal TV viewing (which is actually rare for me) and online browsing. The computer also serves as a media center for my various computers throughout the house. That means I have an assortment of movies digitized on the computer (or via Netflix) with easy output directly to the TV or any portable device.

The Mac Mini supports wireless keyboard and mouse input via Bluetooth technology. It allows me to sit back far from the computer and still control all of the action on the big screen.

My use of Apple’s wireless keyboard and trackpad was effective but also a little clumsy. I had been setting them onto a large, flat board that I made years ago for Erin in use for her art projects. It provided the flat surface needed for the keyboard and trackpad, but was oversized and uncomfortable in my lap. Plus, it would constantly go missing as Erin grabbed it to undertake a new project.

So, I decided to take action and create something more appropriate for the task. Unfortunately, this also meant a little “arctic woodworking” as my Minnesota garage maybe warms up to the mid-20′s during the cold winter days.

Yet, I remained resolved to improve the situation and plotted out my design. I started with a poplar board from Lowes and the intent to route a slight recess in order to slip-in the keyboard and trackpad for a snug, secure fit. After about 10 trips to and from the garage for rough cuts, finishing cuts, routing, and finger-warming, I emerged with the basic shape for the platform. Poplar is an easy, stable wood to shape with minimal splitting – helping me get a decent looking layout in spite of my minimal woodworking skills and several layers of clothing.

Once the overall shape was there, I did some finishing steps with the router to knock down the edges of the board. Since this would be sitting in my lap, sharp corners were a no-no. I also attacked the surface with several stages of sanding, working to a final smooth feel across the entire unit. After trying to stain a test board, I realized that poplar was terrible at taking stain uniformly and I abandoned any additional color to the piece – choosing to keep it natural. My finish of choice was tung oil as it both reminds me of the wood projects my Grandpa Ingolf created and gives a neat 3-D quality to the surface.

My final step included a simple rub-down with furniture wax to seal everything up. I don’t particularly like shiny wood, so both the tung oil and wax leave behind a nice matte surface that still protects the surface from the rigors of use.

After all that work, a test run demonstrated that I indeed improved the situation and created something simple – but effective – to operate the computer. Instead of the big, clunky board in my lap, I have a sleek system for holding the keyboard and trackpad. It isn’t the most beautiful piece of wood ever created, but working in sub-zero conditions puts a natural limit on “pretty”.

Normally, I am not documenting my “first ride of the year” until sometime in late February. This is when the dark winter days are finally starting to get longer and there may be a break of a couple of days with above-freezing temperatures to clear the roads for a short ride.

But – this year is truly an exception. There is hardly a drop of snow on the ground. We have had as many 40 degree days as those below freezing. The only snow that resulted in me shoveling the driveway was on New Years Eve – which is long gone due to several days of melting since then.

Thus, when the forecast called for mild conditions and temperatures near 40 degrees on Sunday afternoon – I needed to head out for some outdoor miles. Although the bike computer settled in at 41F for most of the ride, my temperature sensor at my house said it was about 38F. That is pretty much my threshold for outdoor cycling as I’ve grown too wimpy to ride in really cold conditions and avoid temps dropping near/below the freezing point.

Prior to the ride, I had to swap the pedals from my Old Steed (my Trek 560) and put them on my New Steed. The Old Steed has been serving its duty on the bike trainer in front of the TV – thus acting as my main ride for the past several weeks. The New Steed sits patiently in my basement, waiting for such a day to come out from hiding and travel on some real pavement. While hauling it upstairs, I noticed a slight layer of dust on the wheels – indicating that it has been quite a few weeks since the bike was put into action.

As usual, I overdressed for the ride, and battled as much over-heating as any other challenge (hills and wind). I still don’t ride enough in cooler conditions to hone my skills at proper clothing selection. On a bike, it seems that every 5 degree increment calls for a different strategy with clothing options/layers and I most often choose the cold side of the equation. Still, being a little too warm will beat being a little too cold any day in my book – especially at 38F.

In terms of performance, the ride sucked. I’ve gotten out of cycling shape – big time – and suffered for my lack of initiative during the entire ride. But the point wasn’t to put in a good time or hit a high average speed. The only goal was to do the one thing that bikes are meant to do – cover a lot of miles in a short period of time while hauling my butt around nature’s beautiful countryside.

I achieved that in spades!

Even cold fresh air does a body some good every once in a while. Although it did result in me coughing uncontrollably for several minutes after dismounting while my body made it known that it did NOT appreciate the experience. Yet, that is normal because cycling and suffering go hand-in-hand. The masochist in me often enjoys the pain as much as the ride itself.

While on the road, I also noticed that I was not the only one willing to suffer. In a few patches of frost that were in the low, shady spots, I noticed a single set of bicycle tracks that had preceded my ride. It’s good to know that I am not the only obsessive cyclist to seize the same opportunity when nature presents it during the winter months.