100 Miles This Weekend
Yesterday I had a score to settle with Mines Road in Livermore. It was the ride I intended to do three weeks post car accident. It was on that ride that I realized I was really hurt, that I was a friggin' idiot for thinking I could do a 110 mile ride after a "minor" accident. I bailed from that ride last April.
The accident is behind me, the claim settled, may Allstate rot in hell. I digress.
The club had a Mines Road ride. 60 miles total, to the Junction and back. I hadn't ridden more than 40-45 miles in a year. I had to do it. I did it! I bailed from the club pace, because I brought along a couple people for whom that pace wasn't sustainable. It was more important to me to complete the ride than to go hard.
Around 40-45 miles my back got tight. Then...I felt great! 60 miles, done! The curse was broken.
Then I went out today with Becky, and we did the Skyline-Chabot-Redwood loop. I fucking bonked something fierce. I guess I hadn't taken in enough calories after yesterday's ride. I thought I had a respectable breakfast. But I was cold the first two hours, and I think my body expended a lot of energy trying to stay warm. Coming up the last mile or two on Redwood up to Skyline, I had nothing left. No energy. I was getting spacy. Someone passed me, and I sent a message up to Becky to not wait for me, since I knew she had to get back for a client.
I got to Skyline and was shaking. I told myself, "It's about five miles home. Mostly downhill. You can do this."
I shook and shivered down Joaquin Miller road, thinking I was going to fly off my bike on the descent. I made it to the liquor store, where a man in a turban was arguing with a strung-out looking woman over the price of a carton of smokes. I quickly paid for a candy bar and went outside, only to realize the candy bar was gray and had to be three years old. Fuck it, I thought, I need to eat it fast, and I didn't want to go back inside for that scene.
Somehow I made it home. I couldn't get warm or stop shivering. I took a shower and ate some protein. Nothing worked. Finally I wrapped myself in the down comforter and passed out for two hours. I was wobbly for several hours afterwards.
45 more miles done, though not well.
Back to back rides will make me stronger, if I do them more intelligently than I did this weekend.
Regardless, it's nice to feel like I am capable of distance riding again.
The accident is behind me, the claim settled, may Allstate rot in hell. I digress.
The club had a Mines Road ride. 60 miles total, to the Junction and back. I hadn't ridden more than 40-45 miles in a year. I had to do it. I did it! I bailed from the club pace, because I brought along a couple people for whom that pace wasn't sustainable. It was more important to me to complete the ride than to go hard.
Around 40-45 miles my back got tight. Then...I felt great! 60 miles, done! The curse was broken.
Then I went out today with Becky, and we did the Skyline-Chabot-Redwood loop. I fucking bonked something fierce. I guess I hadn't taken in enough calories after yesterday's ride. I thought I had a respectable breakfast. But I was cold the first two hours, and I think my body expended a lot of energy trying to stay warm. Coming up the last mile or two on Redwood up to Skyline, I had nothing left. No energy. I was getting spacy. Someone passed me, and I sent a message up to Becky to not wait for me, since I knew she had to get back for a client.
I got to Skyline and was shaking. I told myself, "It's about five miles home. Mostly downhill. You can do this."
I shook and shivered down Joaquin Miller road, thinking I was going to fly off my bike on the descent. I made it to the liquor store, where a man in a turban was arguing with a strung-out looking woman over the price of a carton of smokes. I quickly paid for a candy bar and went outside, only to realize the candy bar was gray and had to be three years old. Fuck it, I thought, I need to eat it fast, and I didn't want to go back inside for that scene.
Somehow I made it home. I couldn't get warm or stop shivering. I took a shower and ate some protein. Nothing worked. Finally I wrapped myself in the down comforter and passed out for two hours. I was wobbly for several hours afterwards.
45 more miles done, though not well.
Back to back rides will make me stronger, if I do them more intelligently than I did this weekend.
Regardless, it's nice to feel like I am capable of distance riding again.
Labels: bike cycling
posted by j e n at 10:20 PM
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