So, this year I’ve gotten back into my Thursday morning solo rides. When I first did these, Erin was still home. She used to take Nathan off to school and I could leave from the house and ride out and back from home. Now that we’re back having to drive Nathan around, I have been dropping him off at school and then riding from Highway 6 west to Fry Road.
I love these rides. I feel strong and powerful because I have to do the whole thing by myself. I only go about 20 miles, because it isn’t really an endurance ride. I get plenty of those on the weekends. So, I work on my speed, my cadence and my form. And I fight the wind.
I’ve ridden this ride 6 times now and on one of them, the wind was at my back for the last 3 miles. For the other five, I’ve been cranking out the miles at a snail’s pace into winds that feel like I’ve stepped back into Hurricane Ike (I hyperbolize).
Today, since it’s spring break, Stephen and Nathan joined me. And what I gave up in peace and quiet (random bits of rap lyrics and poop jokes replaced bird song), I got back in young legs and locomotive legs!
We cruised nicely into the wind for one stretch early on. That was sort of the easy part. When I’m alone, I may struggle a little on that stretch but I’m usually still pretty fresh. Where the boys really came in handy was on the last 3 miles. We turned into the wind and Nathan took over in the lead. He dragged Stephen and me for about 2 minutes, then Stephen took over. Then Nathan took over, then, Stephen took over. I drafted comfortably in the back!
My average speed for the ride was 15.2 (over 22.4 miles!). I don’t think I’ve ever averaged that high for 20 miles before! I’ll take it – even though I can’t take all the credit for it
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