what everyone needs for their night on the town - bike brightz!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
bottom buster
needed a nice easy recovery ride after this morning's time trial attempt. kind of bummed that i got the start date wrong on that one. the challenge starts tomorrow, so my 19.9mph finish won't even be a part of that. oh, well. there'll be another before the may 1 end date.
it's been awhile since i headed south on a ride. i had forgotten how bumpy the road is in that direction. with my tires aired up to time trial pressure, it wasn't exactly fun hitting the dips and cracks. it was a real bottom buster.
didn't push at all on this ride. relaxed spinning out and back. back was pretty fun. riding along at or above 20mph with little effort. i even hit a relaxed 32.5mph cruising down tracy hill.
the weather was almost perfect. 67 degrees when i left. 74 when i got back. first time i put on sunscreen this year. first time i hit bugs. only the third or fourth time i rode with shorts only and a short sleeved jersey.
i'm done for the day. intervals again tomorrow if i'm up to it. 20 miles with my friend, bruce, the rubber chicken. see the "foolish 4x5" challenge for more on that. (13.14 miles @ 15.3mph)
it's been awhile since i headed south on a ride. i had forgotten how bumpy the road is in that direction. with my tires aired up to time trial pressure, it wasn't exactly fun hitting the dips and cracks. it was a real bottom buster.
didn't push at all on this ride. relaxed spinning out and back. back was pretty fun. riding along at or above 20mph with little effort. i even hit a relaxed 32.5mph cruising down tracy hill.
the weather was almost perfect. 67 degrees when i left. 74 when i got back. first time i put on sunscreen this year. first time i hit bugs. only the third or fourth time i rode with shorts only and a short sleeved jersey.
i'm done for the day. intervals again tomorrow if i'm up to it. 20 miles with my friend, bruce, the rubber chicken. see the "foolish 4x5" challenge for more on that. (13.14 miles @ 15.3mph)
Humble yourself in prayer...
Since a week ago Tuesday, I’ve been trying something new in my prayer life. Every time I pray, I’ve been purposefully getting down on my knees. Okay, I don’t do it when I’m driving or any other time it might be difficult or hazardous to my health. But even then I choose a physical act. I place my hand on my knee.
I’m not doing these things because I believe God will listen more intently to my pleas for mercy and grace in a kneeling position. He hears and answers every cry of his children’s hearts. I’m doing it because of what it does in my heart. The act of physically kneeling to pray – instead of propping my feet up on my desk or lying in bed or whatever – creates a humble spirit within me. It reminds me that God is God and I am not.
The result, believe it or not, is that I feel like praying more not less. My joy has increased. I’m more at peace. I’m filled with a sense of anticipation. I’m more satisfied today in my relationship with my Father than I was before. I feel more intimately connected to God than I have in I don’t know how long.
I have more than once struggled in my spiritual life over the years. Pastors are not exempt from dry times. What you experience from time to time, I experience too.
So today I’m thankful for the refreshing God is giving me every day as I pray and dig into his Word. The verse that I’ve been constantly reminded of this week is James 4:10. This wise man, an early leader in the church, tells the church what to do to find joy in their relationship with God. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (KJV)
Peter, the crazy, impulsive apostle whose early relationship with Jesus reminds me so much of my own, wrote these similar words in 1 Peter 5:5-6. Listen to the Spirit who speaks through his words. “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (NIV)
You think maybe Peter and James were inspired by the same good God to write what they wrote?
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV)
You can certainly see that truth at play in the continuity of message in these two passages. These men wrote separately and yet give the same charge to the church. “Humble yourselves before God and he will lift you up.” Are you listening to the Holy Spirit? Hear and obey the Word of the Lord!
So how is your prayer life? Do you feel connected to God? I hope you do. Those times when God is close are so precious. Praise him if you’re in that state. And praise him if you’re not. God is worthy of praise because he’s God. Try humbling yourself before him in worship. Do whatever it takes to deal the death blow to your pride in God’s presence. Kneeling may do it for you or it may be something else. I just urge you to go after God with all the humility you can muster. If you will humble yourself, he will lift you up. You have his word on it.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
I’m not doing these things because I believe God will listen more intently to my pleas for mercy and grace in a kneeling position. He hears and answers every cry of his children’s hearts. I’m doing it because of what it does in my heart. The act of physically kneeling to pray – instead of propping my feet up on my desk or lying in bed or whatever – creates a humble spirit within me. It reminds me that God is God and I am not.
The result, believe it or not, is that I feel like praying more not less. My joy has increased. I’m more at peace. I’m filled with a sense of anticipation. I’m more satisfied today in my relationship with my Father than I was before. I feel more intimately connected to God than I have in I don’t know how long.
I have more than once struggled in my spiritual life over the years. Pastors are not exempt from dry times. What you experience from time to time, I experience too.
So today I’m thankful for the refreshing God is giving me every day as I pray and dig into his Word. The verse that I’ve been constantly reminded of this week is James 4:10. This wise man, an early leader in the church, tells the church what to do to find joy in their relationship with God. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (KJV)
Peter, the crazy, impulsive apostle whose early relationship with Jesus reminds me so much of my own, wrote these similar words in 1 Peter 5:5-6. Listen to the Spirit who speaks through his words. “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (NIV)
You think maybe Peter and James were inspired by the same good God to write what they wrote?
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV)
You can certainly see that truth at play in the continuity of message in these two passages. These men wrote separately and yet give the same charge to the church. “Humble yourselves before God and he will lift you up.” Are you listening to the Holy Spirit? Hear and obey the Word of the Lord!
So how is your prayer life? Do you feel connected to God? I hope you do. Those times when God is close are so precious. Praise him if you’re in that state. And praise him if you’re not. God is worthy of praise because he’s God. Try humbling yourself before him in worship. Do whatever it takes to deal the death blow to your pride in God’s presence. Kneeling may do it for you or it may be something else. I just urge you to go after God with all the humility you can muster. If you will humble yourself, he will lift you up. You have his word on it.
To receive my once or twice weekly message via email, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages are available at freegroups.net/groups/webmessage.
time trial torture
woke up this morning around 4:30. i thought to myself, "do i want to reach my 800th mile for the month now or go back to sleep and get it later." i only needed eight miles to get it. i decided that i'd check the weather and if the wind was going to be a lot worse later, i'd get dressed and ride. "otherwise," i told myself, "i'm going back to bed." i checked the weather. 57 degrees with a 9mph southwesterly breeze. the wind was going to be a little bit stronger around noon, so i got dressed to ride.
my plan was to get a good hard ride in to start the world 20K time trial challenge out right. so from the first stroke until the last, i was pushing hard. my quads had that mildly painful LT burn to them the entire 42 minutes. it was worse at times than others, but it was always there. i just set my jaw and worked it out.
i did not gain any advantage from large descents. i gained nothing from semis offering a draft. in fact, only two semis passed me the entire time and they both were going the opposite direction and their wake nearly knocked me off the road. less than ten vehicles of any kind passed in either direction.
when i got back and the clock was stopped, i had to ride for several minutes to keep my quads from seizing. i spun in a low gear and recovered before pulling into the garage and parking. since my cateye had decided to take a vacation on this ride, i had to wait until i got inside, mapped my route and added in the time to see that i'd missed 20mph by just a tic. my 22mph goal is going to take a herculean effort and the perfect conditions. i have to keep telling myself that interval training is going to do it. it had better because this pain can't be for nothing. (13.96 miles @ 19.9mph)
my plan was to get a good hard ride in to start the world 20K time trial challenge out right. so from the first stroke until the last, i was pushing hard. my quads had that mildly painful LT burn to them the entire 42 minutes. it was worse at times than others, but it was always there. i just set my jaw and worked it out.
i did not gain any advantage from large descents. i gained nothing from semis offering a draft. in fact, only two semis passed me the entire time and they both were going the opposite direction and their wake nearly knocked me off the road. less than ten vehicles of any kind passed in either direction.
when i got back and the clock was stopped, i had to ride for several minutes to keep my quads from seizing. i spun in a low gear and recovered before pulling into the garage and parking. since my cateye had decided to take a vacation on this ride, i had to wait until i got inside, mapped my route and added in the time to see that i'd missed 20mph by just a tic. my 22mph goal is going to take a herculean effort and the perfect conditions. i have to keep telling myself that interval training is going to do it. it had better because this pain can't be for nothing. (13.96 miles @ 19.9mph)
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
interval ladder
didn't have a lot of time today, so i warmed up for a bit, then started in on intervals. i rode hard for 1 minute, rested for a minute, rode hard for 2 minutes, rested for a minute, hard for 3, rest for 1, hard for 4, rest for 1, hard for 3, rest for 1, hard for 4, rest for 1, hard for 3, rest for 1, hard for 2, rest for 1, hard for 1, rest for 1, hard for 1. and that's when i pulled in the driveway. and i'm off to a track meet. (12.83 miles @ 18.2mph)
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