I do consider every ride a training ride of some sort
mrfix
i actually am more of a mountain biker and i actually do most of my training ride off-road - in the Alps mostly. but there is only so much time in the week and i also use my commuting as training (i also love riding and i like not being part of the car-overuse pollution/safety/etc problem). thus, i try to reduce the 'junk-miles' and make the most efficient use of my time which does not include waiting through 3-minute lights when no cross-traffic is coming...
It sounds like you are a serious cyclist Nat, It's good to know that I'm not the only wako out there. Keep crankin out the miles.
mrfix
thanks... i feel the same way about most of the people here... it's good to know i'm not the only one who gets depressed if i'm not on my bike for 1 or 2 days... actually i'm going back to the US next week for 2 1/2 weeks for a friend's wedding and to visit my sister and it's my German girlfriend's first East Coast visit and i'm so undecided as whether to bring my bike or not... we have a lot planned and a lot of travel (Dallas, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore, NYC, Boston, Worcester and Montreal) so i won't have much time to ride and it's a lot of hassle to box it and fly with it and haul it everywhere, but i just don't want to be w/o the bike for so long... i guess i can always rent something for a day or so...
P.S. where are you in mass? i spent 2000-2001 in Worcester working on my PhD at Clark...