Sagging

We had a wonderful Spring Break in South Padre Island. But we came home kind of rocky. All four of us ended up very sick – Erin in the emergency room for IV fluids, Stephen and I incapacitated for ~48 hours each, Nathan falling asleep mid-conversation. So, training kind of took a back seat after Spring Break. The pediatrician said that Nathan absolutely could NOT ride his bike last weekend. Erin had a band commitment in Dallas (they ACED the festival!). So, Stephen and I headed off to Chappell Hill for the “Head For the Hills Bicycle Tour”.

The Chappell Hill ride is held off to the end of the training season because it’s so difficult. The hills just keep coming, with very rare occurrences of flat stretches on which you can just pedal and let the Zen of the bicycle keep you going. Of course, since this is the 2009 training season, we had to factor in wind as well. And, since we weren’t yet miserable enough – it was 40 degrees when we started. (There’s no excuse for 40 degrees in Texas unless it’s Christmas morning, if you ask me.)

There were three rides, 24, 44 and 64 miles. We’d planned to do 44, but after the first 7 I was suggesting that we stick with the short route. Stephen pooh-poohed that idea. We’d driven an hour to get to the start, seemed silly to ride so short and then just go home. So, we forged on.
Stephen checks the wind speed via a weather history website when we return from each ride. The worst recorded gust during this ride was 32 mph. I remember that one, actually. I was on my way up a hill and it hit me in the face. Or, perhaps that was the one that nearly knocked me over as it hit me full on broadside. I’m reasonably certain that it wasn’t the one that helped me cover one 2 mile stretch in a very short period of time – because there was only one of those stretches and only one of those gusts.

I sagged the last 7miles. I was flat out done. I was useless the rest of the day. My arms hurt far more than my legs did from keeping the bike on the road in the crosswind.

I’m riding alone tomorrow morning. The forecast is for 20-30 mph winds from the west. I’ll plod pretty much due east for the first half of the ride and then soar home.