Where There's a Hill

My sister-in-law got me a cool t-shirt for my birthday this year. It's got a drawing of a bike on it, and it says "Where there's a hill, there's a way." I love it. Perfect slogan, it's a nice neutral dark yellow color, it's lightweight, and it fits good.

We biked 22 miles this morning. 11 miles to the Cracker Barrel, a big breakfast, then 11 miles home again. There are a few hills along that route, none too ultra-challenging, but a couple of good stretches that make you work a bit.

Sometimes when I'm riding, I think of the perfect thing to say on the old blog... Then by the time I get home, it's usually gone. Unless it's really, really good. Then I can remember it.

Today, as I was going up one of the hills, it occurred to me that there are several strategies for tackling hills on a bicycle. I consistently use two of them: the one that I prefer is to keep pedaling, staying in the same gear, kicking those thigh muscles up a notch and working a little bit harder. With that technique, you keep your speed up, you get to the top faster, and you get a nice sense of accomplishment. But sometimes, I'm just a bit too tired and I need to use strategy #2: downshift until I can keep the same cadence with the same level of effort as before I got to the hill... This one slows you down a little bit, but sometimes ya gotta.

Looking forward to a few more bike rides yet this summer. The weather is finally just about perfect for bike rides a few times a week lately. I like it.

Pedal always!

Beat the Heat: Workout Indoors with Sgt Fitness

Stay cool, America. Don't let this summer heat bubble stop you from working out...

Just move it inside and stay in the AC. And let Sgt Fitness tell you what to do. A tiny afternoon nap might help, too.