35 Degrees Winter Training ride

In the past ,if i knew it was going to be 35 degrees in the morning, i would have most likely got the trainer out and enjoyed 4 hours ( sarcastically said ) of movies in the comfort of my apt living room. But today was a day i didnt want to miss the outside ride. So i bundled up and braved the cold, and know now that 35 degree weather is not too cold for a ride as long as i dress the part..

i woke up this morning like a kid on Christmas day. oh, i love this feeling.. this is why i love triathlon..T3 austin, a local training group , and also the group i am a coach for ( Check out www.corefusionatx.com to see exactly what i do ) had their usual group Sat ride. Today they had routed out one of my favourite routes, 360 to Parmer, but that wasnt the only reason i wanted to go. I wanted to test out where my fitness level was and compare it to some of the other riders, and i also knew that elite triathletes Jasmine Oeinck and Jessica Peterson were going to be riding with the group. Not only did they show up , but so did 35 other T3ers aswell as 4 triathletes from Chicago who were here for a weekend of training. So, quite a fun site for all those involved.

Basic Summary of the ride - Unfortunately because Jasmine and Jessica were running the Austin Half marathon tomorrow, they only rode easy and short, and i didnt see them at all on the ride.
2ndly, i am happy with where my fitness is right now, but still have plenty of work to do which i am excited for .. The hills are not my friend quite yet, thank you wine, cheese and crackers i ate over Christmas time, but i tend to make them mine ....and soon !!
The funnest part of riding outside on a route that i did frequently last year, is to go back and check out my stats from last year during a time i thought i was 'so fast'.. yeah right ...
it is only my 3rd week into training for 2010, and i had the same speed with a much lower effort as i did when i was peaking mid season last year... I am excited to see where it will go from here.

On a plus discovery note, i tried out Nuun for my ride. It tasted great and i didnt feel a cramp coming on once, which is a usual thing that i am still trying to figure out... So yeah, i added it to my usual mix of Puresport and carbo pro, and for four hours i didnt need to reach over and take a salt tablet or eat anything.. that was all i needed, all mixed up and ready to go. i just needed to drink and focus on riding... it worked...