2020 Assessment
So I'm looking back at the year I had riding my bike and trying to write a few things downs that went well and maybe others that I could improve upon. This was no ordinary year and I found myself lurching between lock-down to lock-down with the uncertainty of everything around me in full flux. Having come back from a trip to South Africa I was really hoping to get some great trips in for the spring, which is bikepacking heaven here in Israel. The flowers are in full bloom and the weather is fabulous. You can ride all day and just take in the green flowing hills or the desert that has not yet reached baking yet.
Well Covid hit and with kids at home, work not 100% certain and not being allowed to ride around those plans were scraped pretty quickly and I quickly rose in weight and dove in fitness. I ordered a trainer... along with the rest of the country it seems as it took 2 months to get to me. But I can say that out of this I realized that riding on the trainer is not that bad. I tried Zwift but every time I felt I was in a full on race and did not enjoy that at all. One of the reasons I stopped racing was having that eye ball popping feeling long behind me. Luckily a friend told me about TrainerRoad and I was set. I could get a training plan setup automatically and things were again on the up. So that's one good thing to come out of it all, structured training and I could do it even in the heat of summer with the air conditioner going. I was also able to that way watch things on YouTube and not feel like a complete slouch.
Talking of heat I discovered that riding in the midday heat of summer was not impossible. Not pleasant by any stretch but once you're hot you're hot. So I found myself doing long rides during a time of the year where I was leaving at 8 in the morning (I would be ended at this time in previous years), and just staying hydrated the whole time. Drinking plenty of water and staying covered. Long sleeves actually did the trick. Although on the other hand eat in the heat was something I had to get used to and did have one ride where I completely over did things.
Another cool lesson came in the form of re-discovering night riding. Another plus in the summer where the sun goes down late and up early. Pulling an all night is possible although best to probably get a few winks of sleep if I want to be of any use the next day. Riding at night increases your other senses and the coolness of riding at night is palatable. Really enjoyed the trip I did up to Jerusalem and I am thinking that a night ride through a city is actually the way to go as it is mostly lit up and you avoid all the traffic.
I missed my big goal this year which was the Holyland Challenge. We had our second wave and I just wasn't feeling in the headspace to get out there and actually ride it responsibly. The is always next year.
I have realised though that I seem to just be pushing through as many kilometers as possible on these trips by myself. Now that I have started painting I would like to combine the two and see how that could possibly slow me down. Do less in terms of distance but more in terms of exploring and just being out there. Even taking a nap in the middle of the day. I have a tendency to push and always wanting to be moving. So the goal for 2021 is to stop and smell the flowers a bit more.
