So today was my rest day and boy, did I need it. I set out last night with the intention of riding 60 miles. As soon as I got on the bike I thought to myself, "well, this is going to be a long night."
The wind was blowing like crazy and the traffic was really bad for a Sunday evening. I left my house at 4:30 and knew I need to be home by 7:30 before it got dark. Once I had gotten out on my bike, I was really questioning if this would be possible.
I rode what I call the "Avalon Road Loop" three times. The last time I rode it I thought one loop was about 20 miles. Well, it's 18, not 20. That was a bit of a bummer.
I got about 4 miles in when I noticed that the little flags that were in the ground marking the telephone wires on the side of the road were blowing like crazy. When I came up on Independence their flags were flapping and snapping all over the place. I thought maybe I was just being a wimp until I realized that it was in fact windy. Good to know....
The first loop was pretty uneventful other than the wind. I dropped my chain going up the main hill on the loop. What a pain, I had to get off of my bike to fix it and I got all greasy.
If I never ride on Stoneybrook Parkway again it will be too soon. I was headed right into the wind again and kept think to myself, "great this is one of 3, am I nuts? I'm shorting the route and skipping this part on the next 2 loops." I knew myself well enough to know that I wouldn't actually do it, but it sounded good at the time.
On the second loop I got back to "the hill" and I heard the sound of a car honking me at me. The next thing I know there are 2 motorcycles passing me. One on either side! I was livid! Screaming and yelling. Lots of good it did me...because I'm sure they heard me as they were flying by on their motorcycles.
I stopped at a fire station to refill my water. Really nice fireman helped me out. He asked how far I was riding. Let him know my plan was to do 60. He said, "miles???" I just smiled and laughed.
By the 3rd loop I was getting really hungry. I just kept telling myself I was almost done. Again, Stoneybrook Parkway was just plain bad. You would think that it would be easy but the wind was just brutal.
I finally made it home 3 hours and nine minutes later. Rode a total of 51 miles.
So glad that today is my Friday, I'm sleepy!
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3 comments:
You are an internet nerd! Ironman training, building a house, the dogs, and work must not be keeping you busy enough
I guess I will train vicariously through you. This blog is just what I was looking for. Now I can just read about training.
See you soon, keep up the good work.
Randy
Theresa,
Good job. Molly, Gracie and I read your blog. Keep upthe good work. We are excited to see you in a couple of weeks.
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