Sauna and Frozen Lakes

As part of the recovery process during off-week and because Christine took some time off school, I decided to tread myself to a nice afternoon of sauna. I guess everyone knows how it works but it’s more fun if it is really cold outside (which it still is around here by the way) and we got a real nice sauna place here around the corner. It is darn expensive but every once in a while it’s ok. They have a couple of differently themed saunas, I guess like three inside and four really cool ones in separate cabins outside. So you walk outside (only with your towel wrapped around you) though the cold (and snow) to get there to start with. Pretty cool. But the best part comes after you are done. As every educated sauna-person knows, you are supposed to take a cold shower after each sauna-session. This trains your skin to close the pores faster and become more resistant. It is also supposed to be healthy. Well, as an alternative, you can also take a bath in a cold pool… or a frozen lake! Yep, that’s right, they have a lake just outside the cabins and as it has been rather cold lately, it was (still is) frozen solid. Only a small hole enables you to take a short (!) dip. Now, let me tell you, if there is ice on top of the water, the water is pretty freaking freezing! It was pretty sweet though and today I really feel reenergized. We did this three times last night and, man, did I sleep well afterwards.

Anyways, we had a lot of fun. Nevertheless, as I said before, I can’t wait to get back: I had about enough of the cold now. Even worse, the next couple of days are supposed to be warmer but also wetter… great! Enough whining though. I’m looking forward to VoS in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the next block will boost my fitness somewhat. After reading what the team did at camp, I feel like kindergarten where I am right now. But the next block will feature some good solid workouts and I should be ok by February.

Oh yeah, sorry, but I have to mention this: the above mentioned sauna-area was “textile-free”...

I'm glad that's over!

It is done! No more base miles (well, not really) but today was officially the last day of base training. I got to finish up the training block with some nice 6 hours in the cold (but it is already getting warmer: 25° F) but fortunately, I had some company. Thanks to Lorant and Johannes for getting me through the day. I rode with my cousin Johannes for two hours in the morning and, after dropping him off, rode over to Lorant's place to pick him up for another two hours. So I had some company for four hours at least.

Next week is going to be a welcome break from the bike (and the cold as I will be spending a lot of time INDOORS) but I am really looking forward to the following week. Finally, I get to put the hammer down a little in training instead of just that boring, monotonous base stuff. Should be fun.

I should have some pics from around here soon, so stay tuned.

Happy New Year

I nearly killed myself today during my training ride. It has been rather cold the last couple of days (sub zero) and I was quite surprised when it started raining on me about an hour into my ride. Well, rain isn't that special this time of year but with temperatures at about 25°F it was kind of unusual. Anyways, as you can imagine with a solidly frozen ground, it didn't take too long for the water to turn into ice (about 5 min or so). At first it wasn't too bad but after a couple of minutes the roads were covered completely with a solid layer of ice... those 23C tires are NOT made for ice, let me tell you. I had enough on my plate just to stay upright but apparently driving a car in those conditions isn't too much fun either as quite a few cars swerved by me in a somewhat uncontrolled manner. Nevertheless, I survived the ride (it took me 2h to get back home, the same way I had ridden out in 1h...)and made it back home safe and sound. Let's just hope that next year will get better ;-) That being said: Happy new year!

Oh, and here's a little something to cheer everyone up. It's kind of a tradition in Germany (at least with the people I know) to watch this little video on new years eve. I also plays on tv every year on the evening of the 31st. So, without further ado (do you spell this like that?), here it is:

Who would have thought...

that I am a celebrity? Well, I didn't but apparently I am because I now have an official "fan page" on facebook. I'm not exactly sure who's behind all of this but I've got some ideas... Thanks anyways, I'm flattered.

Check it out!

Cold... FREEZING COLD!

Ok, usually I would not complain about the weather as long as it is dry. On top of it all, we had really nice sun shine and clear blue skies the last couple of days but it has been darn cold! According to some online conversion thingy, the highs yesterday and today were about 24° Fahrenheit… that is measured on the SRM, not some theoretic numbers the guys from the forecast came up with.

This time I really had to pull all my tricks to stay warm but I still managed to get 4h plus rides in both days, so we’re good. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, we’ll see…

Christmas Ride

Christmas is a holiday... yeah, right. At least I didn’t have to go out on my own as my cousin Johannes was there with his dad for Christmas. He too is a passionate cyclist, even though his studies and woman keep him off the bike more than he would like. Anyways, we got a couple of hours in before the big feast. Good times.

Side note: today, Friday, is my off-day. Now, guess what kind of weather we have today, compared to yesterday. Any ideas? Correct: today we have sunshine and a clear blue sky; yesterday (on a 4h ride) overcast and just plain nasty. Oh well, what did I expect, right?

 

Enjoy the rest of the holidays! Let's go ride.

 

Happy holidays everyone.

For those of you on the team, take the opportunity to indulge one last time before getting really serious about this upcoming season (yes Peter, that would be you ;-) ), for all the rest, just have a good time with family and friends.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.