8 Crazy Nights of Blogging: Night 5

8 Things I Learned From the 2011 Training/Racing Season: Night 5 - Cycling is Fun!

In July, I drank the cycling kool-aid and bought Brandon's used Felt Z90. As soon as I bought it, Coach Jeff started to put recovery rides on my schedule, usually the day after a hard speed or tempo workout. I was only able to log 118 miles this year before the weather got cold and the mornings were too dark to ride. I enjoyed getting to know the bike this year. The goal for 2012 is become more confident and get stronger. I've been invited to join group rides to Nyack and Piermont. I declined this year because I was new to the bike and did not feel confident enough to ride with more experienced riders. Hopefully I'll be able join in 2012. 

Another goal of mine is to participate in a duathlon. Why not a triathlon you ask? Plain and simple, I don't have easy access to a pool. Most of the gyms with pools are expensive and that is not an expensive I can take on right right. So for now, I'll stick to running and biking.

Happy Chanukah!

P.S. as tonight is Christmas eve, I wanted to wish everyone celebrating a Merry Christmas.

I Drank the Cycling Kool-Aid

Coach Jeff has been encouraging me to get a bike for quite some time now. I kept putting it off for 2 reasons. 1) it was too expensive and 2) I was afraid Mrs. Ansky would divorce me thinking that I wanted to start doing triathlon. A few weeks ago, Brandon was selling some items he couldn't take with him to Boulder. I half-jokingly asked him if he had a bike he wanted to sell me. As luck would have it, he asked me if I was interested in his 2007 Felt Z90. After talking about it with my wife (and assuring her that I had no triathlon aspirations), Brandon, and Coach Jeff, I decided drink the cycling kool-aid and bought the bike.

The first thing I needed to do is get it tuned up, so I took it to the Cosmic Wheel in Ridgefield Park, NJ which came highly recommended by many cycling enthusiasts in Bergen County. When I went on Wednesday to pick the bike up, John, the owner, put the bike on a trainer and told me to get on and start pedaling. He made some adjustments, gave me a quick tutorial about how to shift gears, and told me I was good to go. I thought to myself "now what?" I brought the bike in from the car and left it in my living room. Mrs. Ansky put me on notice that I need to find a better place to store it. I told her I'm keeping it upstairs because I'm taking it out for a ride tomorrow morning.


Thursday morning, I took it out for a spin around local streets. I'll admit, I was very nervous when I first started pedaling but I got more comfortable as the ride went on.I managed to ride for an hour without falling or hurting anyone (including myself). I practiced which gears to use for going up hill, down hill, and on flats. The ride went well but I quickly learned that I need to buy a pair of cycling shorts. My tush is still sore.


Running will always be my #1 sport by I'm excited about adding cycling into the mix for cross training, recovery, and building strength. Stay tuned for more cycling adventures.

P.S. I found a great spot in my basement to store the bike.