Wind...ohh the Wind

Thought I was in Belgium along the coast today but I just had to look west and see the snow capped Rockies to remind me, I'm landlocked. We have had two straight days of crazy breeze here. I suited up to get a solid 2 hours in today. Still taking it easy to adjust to the altitude and recover from the driving. I'm feeling quite good. Altitude isn't bothering me as I had imagined. I rolled out today and just headed west then went south towards South Boulder. Saw my first pro, a Toyota United rider on the ride up to Baseline. There is still some ice patches so you have to be johnny on the spot with ice watching. After rolling through downtown, which was quite hectic. I think b/c I don't really know my way around too well, and I'm not sure of what the protocol with bikes on roads. Boulder has an extensive bike route system with lanes and paths. But the problem is I paths stop and start and there isn't really much signage to let you know where to go. Then I'm rolling on the road and cars aren't giving you a cm of room and at pretty high speed. I thought moving to the pro athlete capital of the US, I would find more conscious drivers. Well, I'm dissappointed. When there aren't any shoulders, cars are just flying by. The road gravel they throw down during the snow is still all over the road. Which means little rocks spitting at you as the cars zoom by. Then the wind...ohh the wind. I thought I experienced wind in Chicago, but nothing compared to today. One moment, I'm 53'ng it up a hill at 46km/h then the next turn i leaning sideways i I try to keep it upright then a another turn and I'm pushing over 300watts and going 18km/h and facing a 50km/h headwind going uphill. yeah, it was good mental training. My fingers were cold but i stayed pretty warm. Tomorrow and sunday should be awesome, 50s, sunny and light winds. Doing 3-4hrs tomorrow then motorpacing with Shawn on sunday.

On a culinary note, i made a sick tomato-chipotle black bean soup last night. It was super tasty and spicy.

Things to ponder: I stopped in Petsmart yesterday b/c I was waiting for an appointment. On a few of the fishtanks were signs that said, "Price reduced." There was also language saying they are getting rid of the fish and will no longer stock them. I wondered, what does it feel like if you are being priced low to get rid of like these fish are? Its kind of a sad predicament for these fish right? I asked the attendant and she just said they no longer want the fish and need to get rid of them. Glad I'm not a fish...

Chow,
Matthew