I finally saw the last episodes of Arrested Development. They've been sitting on my PVR since they were first broadcast. I couldn't believe how funny the episode with Justine Bateman was. If you didn't notice (I didn't), her contact information was listed as being a "conslutant". Beautiful.

I've actually been starting to get some resluts through spinning. Nothing really quantifiable yet, but I've noticed that it's become a lot harder to maintain a higher heart rate. It used to be that as soon as I got on the bike my heart rate would jump up to 150, and I would be bumping between 165-185 depending on if I was pushing or resting. Now it's shifted down a lot. If I'm exerting myself the same, my heart rate is much lower. Between 150-165. Smaller range too.

Now when I'm using my heart rate monitor to gauge my exertion levels, I'm pushing myself much harder. It's a real struggle to get up to the 170-175 range, but it's definitely worth it. I've started getting these tingly dopamine/endorphin/whatever rushes when I'm pushing toward 180, especially when there's music that I like playing.

Speaking of music, today the instructor played "It's Raining Men". I made some sighs and snarky sort of sounds, so the gym hotties in front of me would be able to tell I'm not quite gay enough to hear it. It was such a distraction. I was laughing, and wondering how she could have throught to play a song like that when 30% of the people in the room were men. Although I have to admit I'm not really sure about the other two regular guys.

Now that I'm starting to notice changes (not to mention the couple pounds that seem to have not come back yet (no, really not to mention... I don't want it to go to my head)), I think it's time to start riding seriously again. Outside, on real roads, with real people.

Caius is training for his ride to Montreal at the end of July. I really wanted to join him this year, but I can't get the time off work. I'm going to be joining him on some training rides though, which hopefully will give me an idea of what to expect if I do it next year. Plus I've found it really helpful to ride/train/whatever with other people.

I've got a new challenge for this weekend, if I can get up early enough. There's a 49k ride to the Rouge River area, which is exactly where I've riden the most. I'll be a pretty basic and probably short ride, so I'll probably subway it there then ride home after (for an extra 10k or so). This should be pretty exciting...