Changes

The past week and a half or so have been warmer than the last couple months. To say this is a welcome variation in temperature is like saying the sun kinda warm. The local news has said that this is known as the "January thaw" and that it happens pretty much annually. Which is odd given that I don't remember anything but cold followed by more cold last year. Maybe I was in a coma for the thaw last year. This year, however, not only was this "January thaw" very much needed, but it was actually an appropriate name. When the warm spell hit, we had feet of snow on the ground, ice frequently covered at least the shoulder of most roads, cars had to be started 15 minutes before they would even start thinking about making efficient locomotion, and my hand-brake froze in the engaged position.

For most people, this was pretty much just a difference in how many coats they put on in the morning. A few mornings it was even possible to get in your car and drive it immediately. Which is an amazing thing after a couple months of not having that luxury.

Most people, however, are not cyclists. Turns out, we're crazy. Temperatures above freezing this time of year almost immediately warrant a good ride. Hell, sometimes we don't even need that. Trying to be manly, a friend of mine and I set out on what was supposed to be a team ride. We were all of the team that showed up. It was 17 degrees with a wind-chill of -1. More on that later.

What I'm trying to get around to is the temperature being warmer, and the fact that at one point that temperatures was just over 50 degrees fahrenheit. I went for a ride that day, but my bib knickers were dirty from the day before. That left only one option: Bib shorts. Well, I guess I technically could have put on the full-length bib tights, but I typically reserve those for sub-freezing days and even then I hate the full-length tights.

So shorts it was. With embrocation, of course. What do you think I am; crazy?

For the record, my embrocation of choice was Mad Alchemy Medium that I've cut down with some mineral oil and just a touch of Bag Balm to make a smoother, more mild embrocation that is easier to remove and better for a shorter ride in warmer temps.

That day I wanted to get out for a longish ride with some hills. Which I did, and the ride was good. Well, the truth is that the ride was really really good. I was going well, the weather was cooperating the whole way, and other than my shoe covers rubbing a bit on my ankles, all was well.

About at mile 20, though, I looked down when I was climbing and noticed that something was different. Nay, something was wrong. Something was horribly, incredibly, absolutely ... smaller. That something, of course, was both of my thighs. They had shrunk. Somehow, throughout the winter and what was a rather extended break from the bike during the fall, my thighs lost on the order of inches from their circumference.

For those of you that may not be cyclists, losing mass in the thigh is like an adult film star losing mass in the ... ummm ... other leg. I mean, come on! Those two groups of muscle are what I rely on when the spring comes. They're how I sprint past everyone else, how I climb faster than everyone else, and how I know that I'm in really good shape when I'm walking and they do that crazy shiver thing with a hard foot-fall. Now ... they're small!

There is an up-side, though. Upon weighing myself, I realized that I am significantly lighter than I was last year at this time. A quick pinch around the spare tire region confirmed that while I'm not quite as pudgy as last year, I am still carrying a bit of reserved energy just in case my stash of nuts, dried meat, and tubers runs empty. And, like I said, I'm going well on the bike. I can't quantify that feeling with data, but I feel it.

So, if I'm just as powerful, still have weight to lose come spring, and have already shed on the order of one stone, what's the down-side?

Vanity! I'm completely and totally vain, and I need my thighs to be big so I feel like I'm fast. The racing season won't start for over a month (and then it's just training races) and I need to feel like I'm going to win in the meantime. Being all lean and light might be good for racing a bike in all actuality, but for the moment, these changes are really the sort of thing that get a guy down.