The roads up in Salmon Creek are great. Lots of country roads with little or no traffic. The drivers seem polite — far from the homicidal maniacs I seem to encounter when I ride near my house in Clackamas county.

I found one little hill, but no sustained climbs. But I’ll keep searching. The Vancouver Bike Club seems to have several routes up in my area there, so there’s bound to be something. And if my climbing resolution doesn’t work out, well, I guess I’ll survive.

But it was so nice to ride outside! I have done maybe five outdoor training rides since I took the job at ITI. The rest of my training has been on a spin bike in a dark room, or on the trainer in the garage. While there’s a certain amount of suffering that helps my racing, it really started to lose its appeal. Now the trick will be putting together a route that can handle training intensities, but I think that should be easy in the lightly populated areas I saw on my Monday ride.

The other thing That has opened up in terms of training is that Chris and I are racing to 175 lbs. We both weigh about the same: between 195 and 200. It’s exciting and it has revealed to me that I am a fairly competitive person.

For example, I started thinking about where I carry most of my weight: my upper body. I have a gut to be sure, but I have flabby arms and a lot of fat on my chest and back. Yet my training plan was focused on my cycling needs. “Was.”

I think I am now going to emphasize, in addition to my hard riding (more on that later), push-ups, pull-ups, core, and a bit of swimming. The push-ups will be the big change: I am going to try to really squeeze them in in the morning and evening along with all the other stuff I do. When I was in ROTC, I improved my push-up score quickly with relatively short workouts in my dorm. It was just a matter of doing them. No space required. Tonight I just stripped off my dress shirt and knocked out 5 sets of 10 push-ups.

The pull ups will mostly be geared to keep my shoulders healthy. I already have started focusing on core and balance work at the gym.

Finding time to swim will be a challenge, though. I am assuming I won’t get many weekend rides. I am hoping to try to get a gym workout on the weekend if I take Lo to the daycare there. But I might need to let the New Year’s Resolution rush subside.

But honestly, if I can do three lunch rides, two gym workouts, pushups in the off hours, and eat a bit lighter, I will be so far ahead of the game.

And I’ll crush Chris.

Good times.

Anyway, it got me thinking that my previous list of goals for 2012 was fairly amorphous. So let’s get a bit more concrete.

• I will lift weights until short track starts, a minimum of two days a week.
• I will be able to squat 250 lbs.
• I will be able to do 60 push-ups.
• I will be able to do 10 pull-ups.
• I will be able to do, um, a bunch of sit-ups. Or something having to do with my core.
• I will figure out some sort of plyometric/explosiveness goals. Probably vertical leap, standing broad jump, shuttle run.

I need some concrete cycling goals, too. I’m struggling a little to figure out how to make them concrete.

• I will ride 3 days a week.
• I will do a hilly ride once a week.
• I will do a hard ride once a week — like up into the race zone (170bpm) for at least 15 minutes.
• One of my rides  will last for a minimum of 75 minutes at least once a week, even if I have to do it on the trainer. And chances are, I will. Ha!
• I will not fear a lunch workout and an after-Laurel-goes-to-bed workout. Because after all, it probably only adds up to 60 minutes of effort.

So I am trying to figure out how to get better next year with the same limitations I have this year. Indeed, possibly with even greater time limitations because Laurel will be older and cuter!

One thing I learned this year: saddle time is a must. Even if it’s on a spin bike, I have to get time on a bike. Swimming is good, but it’s not saddle time. I am not sure about running — probably OK as a cross training thing to balance out the muscles, but I should probably train for what I know I need to do.

Thus: a mixture of goals and tactics.

I will hit short track and cross really hard.
I will weigh 180 before I get to short track.
I will have some seriously powerful and fast legs for cross.
I will work out with intensity.
I will lift weights and do plyo to strengthen my legs and core, and swim to slim my upper body.
I will monkey around for the month of December and January, doing most anything except biking. I will enjoy recharging.
I will eat lightly and healthy, and I will enjoy it.

The first race was awful. The course has a lot of loose dirt on it, much like the CCX course at Sherwood that I disliked so much. And my balance was crazy — not left and right balance, but fore and aft. I’ve discovered recently how important it is to think as much about weighting yourself front and back in the corners. Also, the course was super rutted, and I stupidly ran my tires with too much pressure. I didn’t rattle my teeth out, but I did get 58th out of 70. Ouch.

Since then, it’s gotten a little better each week. My placings have gone:

• 58
• 50
• 42
• 34

I’ve learned to push as hard as I dare early on, because my bike handling gets more confident as the race goes on. And also, the first lap is impossible to make up any time. I’ve learned to trust the bike a little more, and that running my tires at 50 PSI won’t cause an instant pinch flat (but will reduce the fatigue in my arms and jaw). Next year I might invest in either a mountain bike, or maybe at least some fatter tires. Ha!

Anyway, tonight is the last night. I’m sure it’ll be competitive, and I don’t know if I’ll improve this last night because I’m still sore from a workout I did last week. But it’s been a blast, and I feel totally ready for ‘cross season to start.

And here’s the best part about bike commuting in Portland: Breakfast on the Bridges!

Mud, cowbells, cheering, beer, friends.

I raced pretty bad both days, but Saturday I was in the middle of a cold. Can’t recommend that — it was like breathing through a straw.

Sunday I felt better and I raced better, if a bit over-cautious. I want to work on my cornering in the next two weeks — those were the places that had me losing time.

Anyway. We hung out with some new friends, got muddy, got a little drunk, picked up a few new scars, and had a blast.

• Know how to fit them into your overall training plan.
• Have a coach watch you for proper form
• Decide if these exercises are even  right for your situation

This video is my favorite, because it mimics some of what I’ve been doing in physical therapy.

High-Y-Fly from Vern Gambetta on Vimeo.

Yeah, that’s right. I said physical therapy. See, I’ve been swimming again for the last few weeks! I wrote to my friend, Coach Vern Gambetta.

I finally sucked it up and went to a doctor about my shoulder. Impingement. Not a shocker. Went through PT, and am SLOOOOWLY building back up to swimming (I swam 1,000 yards today, and it was really nice to do it mostly without pain).

The PT teased me repeatedly that I am terribly out of balance in my chest and back from having grown up swimming. I have LOADS of flexibility, but almost no scapular strength — working on scapular strength and my rotator cuff was mostly what the PT had me do.

Anyway. Go check out the rest of those dryland videos, and talk with a good coach to see if they’re a good fit for you.

We’d planned it months in advance and would’ve lost hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees, so going seemed like a good way to have a clean break.

Plus, you know, touring Vancouver and kayaking in the San Juan Islands would be fun.

It totally, totally was.

Today, we’re headed back. I turned on my iPhone for the first time in days. I did the usual rounds–email, Twitter, Facebook. But suddenly, all the marketing and advertising stuff that I should be caring about? Not so much.

One of the things that I kept telling myself would be good about this vacation would be that I could think about what I should do next. Should I start an agency? Should I try to find a job at an agency? Should I try to find something client-side?

The work stuff still feels all jumbled as my urges to move on and work conflicts with an urge for revenge. Yes, revenge.

Every rumor and whisper you’ve heard about that guy is pretty true. He really is that much of an ass.

What makes all this so hard is that I remember a time not long ago when I was happy. When the idea of revenge seemed silly. What could be less mature than genuinely wishing ill on someone? How wisely spent is energy on vengeance? Not very.

Thus far, all I’ve decided is that I want to spend this fall outdoors more.

Backpacking seems the easiest plan because it’s cheap and I have everything already. Cycling is another thing I’m not going to sacrifice any longer.

How did this happen? Well, I’m legally prohibited from discussing it so you can do with that information what you will.

The thing about working there was that the CEO sees everything as a negotiation, so you’re pushed to work longer and harder and faster. I can’t remember what I got in return during that negotiation.

At least, that’s how I felt. Especially when the economy tanked, three directors were fired, our media person was let go, and I got to manage, pitch, learn analytics and plan, buy, traffic, and analyze online media. And p.s. Enjoy that 10% pay cut.

Is it any wonder I got fat again during 2009?

Ugh.

Sunny and hot. Went up and over Turner and Mountain roads, then had my first battle with Pete’s Mountain road. Hard. Steep. Plus I was running very low on water, and all the mega-mansions up there have gates. So no illicit tapping of the garden faucet for me.

Anyway, it was abou a five hour ride. Epic. Hilly. Hot. I’m still slightly sunburned on my arm. It’s a scar I’ll wear with pleasure.

Since then, I haven’t ridden much. But I have been swimming. That has been marvelous as well, if only because Portland has been in the middle of a Global Warming inspired heat wave. And our AC is dead.

If there’s one thing I need to work back into the rotation, it’s hitting the gym. My shoulders and back have been bothering me, and the cure is quite obvious.

But I have one more day of swimming ahead of me: tonight, I’m swimming up at Klineline Pond in Vancouver. My first open water swim in a while. With luck, it’ll be fun. Without any luck at all, it should be nice and cool!

As long as I make the time. What a great weekend.