Free Range Athletes

I drove past a new gym in my home town the other day and said out loud - "Get outside people!". That's my inner Free Range Athlete speaking. The marquee stated they now had SpinnerVision...which would be a horror show for me. I had visions of "Les Triplettes of Belville". A cryptic reference here - to be sure. Follow the link.

Flash back to early January and you will find me slipping into 3 layers of winter cycling clothes and pumping up the tires on my cyclocross bike. I don't own a cyclocross bike so I can race - far from it. I own a 'cross bike so I don't have to go to the gym. Early January saw me watching the degree of ice on my new training routes, trying to sew my own winter-weight tights (emphasis on the word trying), and freezing my nose off while riding the roads. Think adrenaline rush when you hit pure ice, try to keep the bike perfectly straight, and have a gust of wind push you onto the shoulder.

Velo News had a beautiful article on early season training in Italy. There were glorious photos of two riders on a twisty mountain road, warming up in a small cafe, and ending their day on the cobblestones in their little home away from home. No SpinnerVision for these guys - they're my picture of true Free Range Athletes.

After a beautiful weekend, with two training rides totalling 58 miles in the sunshine, I woke this morning to snowflakes spitting from dark skies. It's light enough now to see the hills around me wrapped in clouds and a fresh dusting of white. And I'm grinning like a Free Range Athlete should.