Winter makes a comeback!

Although we had a few really nice days fairly recently, Mother Nature had to make sure we knew it was still winter. Last Wednesday and Thursday were pretty nice days, just touching into the low 60s. Thursday was apparently an excellent night for a ride, but I had to miss it.

Of course, Friday morning started off fairly nice, but the clouds began building as I spent the day working. By the time I left work, it was much colder than in the morning. Forecast was calling for snow, and some places in the region did get real snow. Greenville got some snow as well as Friday night progressed, but by the time I got up on saturday morning, it had pretty much turned to ice around my house.

That was a bit of a bummer, as I was really getting stoked to ride the first ever Paris Mt Time Trial. Unfortunately, the organizers had to postpone the event due to this weather front that came in to remind us of winter.

Thankfully, my good friend Jeni, who was my Polka-dot team-mate for the ride to Austin, was planning on doing Paris Mt repeats on Saturday morning. How could this be possible if the roads are covered with ice you ask? Because she is getting ready to open her own Fitness studio (RoadWaves Fitness) and the repeats were going to be on the trainers in her studio space.

A few weeks ago, had you asked me about doing one of these training classes, I would have brushed it off and said "NO WAY!". However, a little over a week ago, I did attend one of Jeni's trainer classes at Ride-On Bicycles. I was a little skeptical, but with the very limited opportunity to get outside to ride, I decided to go. It helped that a number of my friends had great things to say about these classes.

So, Saturday morning, I went outside to about 2 inches of snow that had turned to a crunchy ice. The roads were bad, but Jeni had sent a text saying the class was still on. I loaded up my bike and my trainer and made my way (very carefully) over to her new studio. I was running a little late, but so was everyone else. As I pulled up, a number of other folks were just pulling their gear from their vehicles.

Jeni didn't disappoint. The only difference between her trainer class of Paris Mt (Altamont Road) repeats and the real repeats we did last fall is the sun was already up and we happened to be inside. She worked us over for three climbs with 2 or three minute recovery between. Of course, after that, she kept drilling us and before I knew it, an hour and a half had passed. Amazing - when I ride the trainer at home, I struggle just to get 30 minutes.

Although the sun did come out today (Sunday) and put a dent in the icy conditions, it was still too icy and wet to be riding outside. Thankfully, once again, Jeni was giving another trainer class. Today, she had a pretty big crowd and once again, she didn't disappoint. I actually think today was more difficult than yesterday. So many sprints! I might have to take a rest day tomorrow just to let my legs recover.

I hear she's putting together another trainer class for this Thursday - if the weather keeps me from riding outside, I'll be there. Check her website for the schedule. You can also find Roadwaves Fitness on Facebook (search for Roadwaves).