1. Those jeans you bought in late Spring feel like they’ve just been washed, even when they haven’t.
2. The recycling bin looks like you’ve just had a party, but you haven’t. It’s just you, drinking. Alone.
3.
Your wife tells you you’re starting to resemble Doraemon, whose waist is 129.3 cm around (he can also run 129.3 kph when frightened, which is pretty cool).
4. Everything feels like a hill.
5. Your quads keep hitting something on the upstroke. It’s your stomach.
6. You have obviously forgotten what it’s really like to do sessions on the indoor trainer because you are thinking about pulling it out of storage.
7. Nothing fun has been ‘guilt free’ for many weeks.
8. You see cyclists on the road and think, ‘that used to be me.’
9. You start saying things like, ‘yeah, I’m free this weekend’, and think it’s normal.
10. You make Top Ten lists because that’s really the only thing you can come up with to blog about.
The Vicious Cycle 
been there – am there
I didn’t think I was alone, but it’s still nice to hear it.
Yes, the legs are back to being Chewbaca-like, and the weight is slightly creeping up. What turbo trainer do you use? I’m looking at cycle0ps
I hear you. It’s time again…
I’ve got the Cycleops Fluid 2, I think. I’ve got nothing to compare it to, but it has served me well for two seasons.
http://www.cycleops.com/en/products/trainers/fluid2-trainer.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=168&category_id=3
Sounds a bit too familiar… Doraemon is a good one, but I get referred to as Kewpie the mayonnaise baby… Another thing I notice when I haven’t been riding for a little while is that the saddle seems higher / the pedals seem farther than it used to be — just a symptom of my legs having lost a bit of flexibility.
Kewpie is a deeply disturbing image. Deeply.
I haven’t noticed the saddle getting higher, but I’ve still been doing my morning stretches.
You’re telling me…
LOL
ahhh, the off season..the days of consuming an entire 1 pound bag of potato chips and a pint of Hagen Dazs…the key is to wait for the ice cream to be just soft enough as not to break the chip..takes practice..I do find it difficult to find a good wine to pair it with…
Like beer and peanuts, I prefer to enjoy my ice cream and chips separately. It prolongs the joy.
I know you are not supposed to complain about the weather, just dress up and meditate on Rule #5 (HTFU), but this rain here in Belgium is just too much to handle for me at the moment… I still need to find my motivation back…
I won’t tell you the weather we’re having down here, then. Summer has returned.
I forgot to add… I noticed on Strava you had a PR on the 979 downhill…I can’t imagine how much work it was for the road crew to steepen that section..
It’s the chips and ice cream. Good for something!
What is this “off-season” of which you speak? I have never heard of such a thing! 🙂
I was just reading about your type last night. Joe Friel calls you the ‘always fit’.
Ah yes, the off season. Isn’t that the time of year when do all the research and buy new bikes with the latest technology?
Yes, and get fat. There’s a lot to do.
Hoorah, my off season has just begun. I’d almost forgotten how good this beer thing was! On it!
Enjoy it while it lasts.