Ode to the South East Wind

We’ve vowed to thank God for the opportunity to ride into a southeast wind for the next two weeks. We will gladly, giddily, happily, enthusiastically ride into a southeast wind because that’s the wind that will push us to Austin on April 17th and 18th.
Today we rode into that wind. We logged 48 miles or so, some of it with the wind behind us and some of it with the wind in our faces. We used a pace-line to keep us going a few times. We shifted…a lot! And we did it. It’s funny trying to draft off of Nathan’s small frame (ok, he’s taller than I am, but he’s a pretty narrow wind block!).
Tomorrow, we’re going to ride again. We’re completing our back-to-back training this week. (You may remember that Willow rode back-to-back a few weeks ago with us.) This training will ostensibly prepare us both physically and mentally for getting BACK on the bikes in LaGrange on Sunday morning!
Tomorrow’s ride has some hills, but no wind is forecast. When we rode this route last year, the wind was between 15 and 18 mph. This is the ride during which Stephen was our “engineer” and he dragged us up a long, slow, knee-grinding hill at the very end of the ride. I’m hoping that this time, without the wind, that if there’s any dragging necessary, I can do my part.
I think, if all of us were honest with ourselves and each other, that we’d admit we’re ready for the training season to be over. We do love riding. It’s a great family activity and as parents, Stephen and I are so proud that our kids are willing to do this with the ‘rents and that they’re participating in an important cause. But, the end of the school year is approaching. While Nathan’s homework load seems to have lightened almost to non-existent, Erin’s seems to have almost ramped up. There will be band concerts, Senior festivities, prom. I’ve got papers to grade and a summer semester to plan. It will be nice to wake up on April 25th when we want to and to NOT go load up the car and drive off to a far away place to ride.