Perhaps more difficult than finishing the ride yesterday was getting on the bike this morning to do a short recovery ride.  It turns out that the body recovers from a hard ride much faster if you follow that hard day with a slow and easy ride.  It’s hard to convince yourself of that, though, when sitting on a bicycle seat for even five minutes seems like it’d be cruel and unusual punishment.  But the pros are right, and I felt a lot better after Debra and I went for our ride.

For the sake of completeness, here’s my mileage from this week. 

All told, I rode 1,170 miles on my bike since August 12.  It sounds like a lot, but it works out to only 10 hours per week.  I’m simply astonished at the results from that relatively small commitment.  I’m a much stronger rider, I’ve lost almost 15 pounds (and I wasn’t actually trying to lose any), I’m more alert, feel more alive, and am happier than I’ve been in quite some time.  10 hours a week sounds like a big time commitment, but I don’t even miss those hours I used to spend watching TV. or staying up late surfing the Web.  Mom and Dad were right:  you really can do anything you set your mind to.

I was up at 4:00 am to get ready for today’s ride.  I had packed most things last night, put the bike on the truck, and had my clothes laid out.  Breakfast at 4:30 (toast and a banana), and I was on the road.  The start of the ride was 85 miles from the house.  I got there in plenty of time to pick up my packet, reassemble the bike (just put the front back wheel back on), stretch, and warm up.  The ride started promptly at 8:00 am.  And then my brain fell apart.

I’ve been riding regularly for 8 weeks now, learning how to do everything right.  I know how much water and Gatorade I’m supposed to drink, how much I’m supposed to eat during a long ride, and what my heart rate monitor should read as I’m riding.  When the ride started, all that went out the window.  I took off like a shot along with the fast riders, and completed the first 8 miles in about 20 minutes.  I slowed down a bit, but still averaged 20 MPH for the first 35 miles, and with an average heart rate that was way too high.  I finally slowed down and began to get my heart rate under control, but by that time the damage was done.  The next 30 miles were very slow and painful, partly because I had burned so much energy early on, and partly because it was almost all into the wind.  I got my “second wind” at around 70 miles, and was able to finish the ride with some energy to spare, but not at all with the strength that I had planned for.  I finally crossed the finish line about 7 hours after I’d started.  I could have finished sooner, had I not spent so much time enjoying the rest stops.

I’m happy to have completed the ride, but a bit disappointed that I lost my mind there at the beginning.  Oh well, next time I’ll know better than to do that.

This morning I rode from home down to the Einstein’s Bagels (about 13 miles) to meet with some other cyclists for a group ride.  I’ve been wanting to get a little group riding practice in so that I can team up with other cyclists during the ride next Saturday, and perhaps do a 5-hour century.  Imagine my surprise when the route the leaders took brought me right back by my house on the way to Georgetown, Hutto, and points beyond.  70 miles of back roads covers a lot of ground.  It was a beautiful day for a ride, except for that 20 MPH north wind.  I got my group ride practice in, and had a good time chatting with the other riders.  Up to this point I’d been doing all of my long rides (and most of my other training) entirely by myself.

The ride is in Waco on Saturday.  The coming week will be easy rides and lots of stretching to keep the legs limber.  Carbo loading starts on Wednesday.  I’m ready.

I’m keeping busy with my training and a few other things here, and haven’t taken the time to write diary entries.  The century ride is next Saturday, after which I’ll have a little more time for notes.  So, yeah, I guess the diary is living up to its name:  Random Notes.

The century ride is in two weeks.  Today I rode 80 miles on a mostly flat (as flat as you’re going to get in this part of Texas) course, and felt strong enough to continue when I was finished.  I continue to be surprised by my progress.  My improvement over the last 5 weeks of training is astounding.  5 weeks ago I rode 50 miles at an average speed of a little under 16 MPH, and was very tired afterwards.  Today I averaged over 18 MPH, and then finished mowing the lawn.  The training program works!

Tropical storm Fay is making my century training interesting.  Friday’s planned mountain bike ride (my first real trail ride in almost 2 years) almost got canceled, but fortunately some people showed up.  It rained a bit, but that just makes mountain biking a little more challenging.  We had a grand old time slipping and sliding around in the mud, and drinking beer afterward.  Yesterday I spent an hour on the stationary trainer pedaling like mad and not getting anywhere.  Few things are as mind-numbingly boring as sitting on that trainer.  Rock and roll at high volume helps tremendously.  It was raining again this morning, and I was dreading a four hour stint on the trainer.  It stopped raining at about 10:00 so, optimist that I am, I hopped on the bike and headed out.  I got dumped on intermittently for the first 90 minutes or so, but after that it was just cloudy and humid, with a stiff wind from the east.  I followed the rules this time (good diet, proper hydration), and didn’t suffer the same ill effects as last week’s ride.  I won’t say that the ride three weeks from now is going to be a breeze, but I do think I’ll be able to finish it with strength.

This week’s mileage: