Out of gas. It had to hit me someday and today was the day, the most difficult riding day of the trip for me. This is our seventh straight day of riding a total of 615 miles this week. Three days ago I had too much fun flying through those 148 hills (interval training to the extreme), then a nice Sunday romp in the rain, followed by 108 miles - all without a recovery day.
Today we had hot weather and a headwind the entire day.
So, before the ride began I knew this would have to be a gut check ride. It was 70 degrees when we started with winds out of the east (we head east) at 5 to 10 mph. As the day went on, the headwinds just kept getting stronger. My average riding speed of 10.3 mph is correct. After the first 30 miles my average speed was around 12.7 mph, as the headwinds increased to over 30 mph, my pace dropped. There were many times today I was standing on my pedals, going as hard as I could go - doing 7 to 8 mph!
Oh did I mention that the road in the middle of the ride - for about 27 miles, was so rough and broken up that it was almost un-rideable? Every 30 feet there was a crack that had a 2" gap. Ker-plunk, Ker-plunk, the jarring vibrations hurt my hands and toes. Thankfully the road improved the last 28 miles. Just to make things interesting, there are no shoulders to ride on these two lane state roads.
I actually considered getting a ride in the last 21 miles but grabbed six gels to eat (one every 1/2 hour) and refilled my water bottles and pressed on. It took over two hours to ride those 21 miles.
Tomorrow is a rest day!!
No pictures today, just didn't feel like it. BUT - Here is a special treat - done by Tom, another rider. Check out this link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=gsLxotvK6Jk DON'T MISS THIS!!
Here is my Garmin data: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3009209
2 comments:
Having fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to hear you didn't have a good days ride. You're proportionately in the last 10 miles of a marathon. You might be a little weary. Hope your day of rest helped. Keep focused.Tomorrow is a new day. Have a good ride.
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