Oh, so close

When I completed the morning's writing work, my phone delivered an interesting little piece of information: 33 degrees. 6:45 a.m.

"Holy crap, I'm going to be able to get outside for today's workout," I thought.

I switched gears from preparing for a quick trainer ride to preparing for a quick hill workout on the monster down the street.

Just to be sure, though, I did a quick lap of the neighborhood when I got back from daycare. The climb was good. Yes! But what of the descents?

Wow. Sketchy, sketchy, sketchy. One corner/downhill actually had snow on it. The the rest of it was ice.

I know what you're going to ask - "why not go down that nice, clean hill you just climbed."

Well, two reasons: one was that only the uphill portion was clear - from people going to work that morning. The other is the driving habits of my neighbors, which kept me from riding down the hill on the left side.

These people drive crazy. And they drive fast. And even if I did have a clear road on which to travel, there's still a good chance I'd be mowed down.

So it was 50 minutes on the trainer. Ten-minute warmup and 40 minutes of short, steep hills. Ouch.

Good news, though: my knee feels good. I hit all of the numbers and I got to watch Jens Voigt ride off the front in the 2005 Fleche Wallone.