I’m using Joel Friel’s Cyclist’s Training Bible to plan my training for the coming year, rather than my usual technique, which essentially involves riding whatever the hell I feel like today.

Friel’s big on resting. For the over-40 set such as myself, his first step in mapping out a year of training is to set aside every third week for rest, so I’ve been doing that.

It’s remarkable. This is a rest week, so I took Monday and Tuesday completely off, and have been doing light cycling and a little bit of lifting at the gym since. This morning, when I sat down on the bike at the gym, my legs felt so fresh and ready to go, they were like a dog straining at the leash. I let ’em go a few times, just for fun. They were happy.