This was the reckoning ride...Encinitas to Couser Canyon on the 4th of July. I was joined by Derrick, Greg K, Jennifer, Richard, Greg B, and Arianne.
Within the first 3 miles of the route, I ended up with a flat tire..."Great! Here we go again." I quickly changed it, and made the extra effort to stay upbeat while stuffing that nagging memory of the last time on this route. The rest of the ride was flat-free for me, yet about half-way into the ride I opened my big mouth about not having any more flats, and just within seconds of the words passing my lips, I heard "POP"...Richard's back wheel. Greg K warned me about never again saying the "F-word" ("Flat") while on a ride. Sorry, Richard...I didn't know the rule.
I rode at a moderate pace, trying to stay in Zone 2 or less the entire workout. All worked well until I reached the 4-plus-mile hill on Couser Canyon Road. Throughout the duration of the hill, I fought an internal battle...I wanted to stay in my training zone, yet I also just wanted to hammer and be done with the darn hill. So, my ride up was really mixed...in the saddle...out of the saddle...high cadence...low cadence....push...rest...schizophrenic cycling. The only consistent thing was my body temperature...HOT!
The news predicted a heatwave with temps close to 110 degrees in east county for the day. Its going to be toasty at Vineman, so I sort of shrugged at the high temps as good training conditions. Fortunately, we had overcast skies until about noon, and even in the afternoon, I think the temp may have just barely reached the low 100s. Oh, it was HOT, yet we were spared severe heat. All of us consumed tons of water, electrolytes and salt tabs. We made stops at the gas station both on the way out and on the way in to refill our bottles. Later, Derrick reported that he tried to talk the young woman behind the cash register into letting him go into the back freezer to cool down; however, she wasn't having any sweaty unsupervised cyclists mingling that close to the Haagen Daz.
We took our sweet time about getting this route done, yet we all finished in time to clean and meet up with family and friends for fireworks. I was pretty exhausted as one should be after riding 75 miles in the heat, yet I felt good about the workout, and I didn't feel like I was totally spent...just sweetly satisfied with completing this route.
G
Within the first 3 miles of the route, I ended up with a flat tire..."Great! Here we go again." I quickly changed it, and made the extra effort to stay upbeat while stuffing that nagging memory of the last time on this route. The rest of the ride was flat-free for me, yet about half-way into the ride I opened my big mouth about not having any more flats, and just within seconds of the words passing my lips, I heard "POP"...Richard's back wheel. Greg K warned me about never again saying the "F-word" ("Flat") while on a ride. Sorry, Richard...I didn't know the rule.
I rode at a moderate pace, trying to stay in Zone 2 or less the entire workout. All worked well until I reached the 4-plus-mile hill on Couser Canyon Road. Throughout the duration of the hill, I fought an internal battle...I wanted to stay in my training zone, yet I also just wanted to hammer and be done with the darn hill. So, my ride up was really mixed...in the saddle...out of the saddle...high cadence...low cadence....push...rest...schizophrenic cycling. The only consistent thing was my body temperature...HOT!
The news predicted a heatwave with temps close to 110 degrees in east county for the day. Its going to be toasty at Vineman, so I sort of shrugged at the high temps as good training conditions. Fortunately, we had overcast skies until about noon, and even in the afternoon, I think the temp may have just barely reached the low 100s. Oh, it was HOT, yet we were spared severe heat. All of us consumed tons of water, electrolytes and salt tabs. We made stops at the gas station both on the way out and on the way in to refill our bottles. Later, Derrick reported that he tried to talk the young woman behind the cash register into letting him go into the back freezer to cool down; however, she wasn't having any sweaty unsupervised cyclists mingling that close to the Haagen Daz.
We took our sweet time about getting this route done, yet we all finished in time to clean and meet up with family and friends for fireworks. I was pretty exhausted as one should be after riding 75 miles in the heat, yet I felt good about the workout, and I didn't feel like I was totally spent...just sweetly satisfied with completing this route.
G
No comments:
Post a Comment