None of the events that have happened since my last update really jump out as being more important to address than the next so let's start at the beginning. Yesterday morning I had a delicious oatmeal breakfast with some peanut butter, berries and an apple. I got ready to head out a little later than I have been because well, I slept in. I can usually fit in a lot more miles in the earlier, cooler weather though. When I got going I was hit with some of the most ridiculous wind I’v had the pleasure of riding straight into. Had the plan that morning to go for a bit of an easier ride and just do the first few miles of Lemmon and then turn around and take the long way home. By the time I had gotten to mile zero I had already burnt 650 calories and my heart rate had been sitting around 160 for the entire time. This is less than 10 miles from my door! This is a phenomena that I'm sure everyone has experienced at least once. Riding straight into the wind, going no more than 13-15 miles an hour and feeling like you are putting out 300 watts or more the entire time...it’s just no fun and totally demoralizing when you are by yourself. Needless to say, the thought of the tail wind coming back was a huge boost to my self esteem and I felt good starting the climb so I just kept going. Once I reached mile three, still feeling fine, frustrated, but fine. I was more concerned with the signs that were wobbling in the wind so hard it looked like they were going to tip over. Anything with a broad surface area (including me) were subject to being displaced by the wind at that point. Once I was passed the fee station at around mile 5, my exposed skin was starting to get super wind burnt and my initial thoughts of ripping it on the downhill had been replaced by trying not to die because at that point it would be coming straight at your face for a bit then a few seconds later almost knock you sideways off your bike. Mile 6 ended up being the turnaround point for me and I sloooowly made my way down after taking the first few corners fast and almost hitting the deck. Rode around a bit more after that and ended up still only being out for 1:45ish, so far my shortest ride by a lot. When I got home, rather than wait for the wind to die down, I decided to do an hour and a half of yoga/strength eat some delicious pasta (was going to take a picture but ate it, sorry) then capped it off by watching a few episodes of The Office and going to bed.
This morning’s ride turned out to be awesome, the rest and stretch that I had had from the day before helped so much that I decided to put in a few efforts to see how I felt. There was no data at all that I had available to me that could tell me honestly if I was any faster than the week before or if I was pushing more watts but I can for sure tell you that I felt great. Was out for 63 miles today but will try to put in a bit of a longer one tomorrow and maybe map it out for you so you can see what the elevation is like here.
I have been seeing a lot of Kelly Benefit guys and was pretty sure I rode by Andy Schultz yesterday but so far the only Canadian I’v seen was an older gentleman in a Team Canada jersey. I waved back at him but promptly continued my ride...away from the scary amounts of enthusiasm. I might go out and buy a stove top espresso machine today, just a small one but this way it will give me something constructive to work on as I’m about 2/3 the way done the first of two pounds of coffee I brought (thanks Lina!).
I’ll keep you guys updated on anything new that happens and like I said, I’ll try to plot out my ride tomorrow when I get back.
Pat
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