The Hamburger Ride!

For most people Friday night is the kickoff to a relaxing weekend.  For me, Friday is the stretch before a couple long hard days of training.  It is one of my favorite times to workout because I have a really sweet Friday workout.  I call it the "Hamburger Ride."

*Kitted up and ready for the hamburger ride

The first step in completing the Hamburger Ride (HB) is to kit up in a really sweet cycling kit.  You can never have a poor training session when you look like a million bucks.  After tricking out with a sweet outfit, I pull a bike out of my stable and head out for an evening 20-25 miler through quiet streets.  The last 5 miles are through downtown, which takes me past a few restaurants.  It's actually a great time to ride downtown because the traffic is very minimal.  I get most of the smooth roads all to myself.

Alright, why is it called the Hamburger Ride?  Simple really, when I ride I am overwhelmed by the smells of Friday night backyard barbecues.  The smell of hamburger fills the air of the route.  While people relax and enjoy their BBQ, I do what it takes, keep riding.  The ride is moderate paced, as it is a stretch out for the next two days, so I try to narrow down all the items that are being cooked.  It makes me so hungry for a hamburger that I want to stop and ask, "Uhh, hey, got one of those for me?"  I wonder if it would fit in my bike bottle holder.

*I had to settle for a salad for one :)

I of course, don't stop, and don't eat a hamburger.  I have always advocated to find and celebrate small achievements in life.  Knowing that I am out training on Friday night, doing the things I need to do to be my best, is a small but very satisfying victory.  It's fun to finish the ride with the downtown stretch because I get to smell more delicious restaurant smells,  in my mind I imagine what is producing the smells.  Sometimes when I am feeling extra crazy, I picture myself eating the items I image.  Mmmmmmmm!  It's also great to be downtown and see all the happy people.  They are happy going to the restaurants and being out, I am happy just pedaling away on my road bike, "The Orange Crush."  JM deserves credit for the name, by the way.

*I bet all those people were eating this.

When I got back home I settled for a hamburger salad.  Anyone who knows me will agree that I eat a lot of weird, overly simplified, and random things.  The hamburger salad was  comprised of spinach, sprouts, ground turkey, purple onion, and cilantro.  Bland, yes, but also nutritious.  It wasn't a "garbage salad," but I thought it hit the spot. Hamburger on, party people!