kick start or kick in the ass?

It was test day, I hate test day. I won't share the results but I will share the feeling. I was a little disappointed but in a way I was expecting what I saw. After the sprained ankle followed by the cold followed by Christmas my top end was pretty much non existent and my legs were aching a bit from all the gravity fun the previous few days. What it did do was give me so base numbers to work with for the month's ahead.

After an hourish of hell a short rest was had before heading out for the first wintery ride. The temperature had dropped below the freezing mark, some fresh snow had come down and the wind had picked up, perfect. After the ordeal of getting dressed, still need to remember the perfecting layering combo's of last season, I was just a little chilly in the core near the end. It was also the first real ride/test of the Giant OCR conversion, Now converted to the OWR meaning Ontario Winter Roads. The friction shift works perfect and after a little fitting adjustment it's like riding that comfy slipper.

The ride was filled with a little this and a little that, A little road which was still pretty much perfect from the previous days monsoon. As I headed through Port Severn there were concerns on the bridge that has been in the open position all summer, it's back in the functional state for cyclists and snowmobiles, winter runs of the Big Chute and Honey Harbour area will be done. Once on the other side my adventurer side kicked in. Actually I got sick of riding into the headwind so like usual I turned left on a random road. This random road would lead to me doing something I've been wanting to do for a very long time.

There were no carts, no flags no people. The situation couldn't have been better, I had to as I turned right onto this narrow paved section. It rolled over hills and turned along the edge of the open fields. It was potential a roller coaster for bikes. Except for the random chunks of ice which kept my speed way down it was a paved trail that could cause the giggles. It's unfortunate that they happen to put it along the side of a golf course. I pretty much road the back nine and didn't have any problems playing through. I didn't have to duck with the scream of 4 and the only traps were the odd snow drifts on the trail. There is no way of knowing how far I road as everything was in yards.

I returned to the big wide roads which were a little less curvy and slowly made my way back towards the house. The ride seemed to be what I needed both mentally and physically. The test may have been the little spark I needed to get the body back in training mode. The outdoor ride brought back the thrills of coasting. I may or may not do another power test in a month, I know I'll be going up regardless and the HR number were figured out, maybe, maybe not.

It's back to work day, it's going to be a coffee fueled morning and possibly afternoon. 6:15 am is a kick in the ass that a power test can't help with.