Concerns about cinder covered roads in IL caused a change of plans for Saturday's ride. Kirkwood was the new starting point. All the muscle soreness that has been plaguing me went away last week. All the normal soreness, at least. It started to become clear that I strained or pulled my upper thigh muscle in both legs.

Most normal movements cause no problems but kneeling down or getting up from a kneeling position takes a little bet of caution. If I move to quickly, or incorrectly when making that kind of move, the muscle really bites and pulls.

I found this out Wednesday evening. I had been feeling good up to that point. I flopped down to the floor on my knees without much thought and a second later I was writhing on the floor trying to not let the expletives fly. It felt like I pulled the muscle right off the bone and was left to pull myself up on the couch to get off the floor. The initial pain eased but it still hurt the rest of the night. Amazingly, the pain was mostly gone after a good nights sleep.

Back to Saturday... I rode out to Kirkwood as usual. Unlike last Saturday, this week I could actually get out of the saddle.. But, just like a kneeling motion, pedaling out of the saddle caused a pulling feeling. Starting from a stop or slow roll created a similar feeling, even if it was done in the saddle. There was no acceleration in my game.

I arrived in Kirkwood pretty much right on time. Naturally, no one was there. I circled around. And circled around. And circled around. The more I circled around, the more I grumbled about no one else having showed up yet. Grumble, grumble, grumble. Suddenly, I remembered that the ride was leaving from Kirkwood Park and not Meramec CC. Awww, crap! To top things off, just as I reached the park, my rear tire went flat. Aaarghh! I had just replaced that tube Friday night. The tube lasted an impressive 7 miles.

Once everyone was gathered, we had a little different dynamic than past Saturdays. Derek and Cooper graced us with their presence. The change of location must have been why.

I had not ridden out in Wildchesterwoodfield in probably two years. The land of nouveau mansions and fancy cars continues to grow and change. That area has changed SO much since I started racing in '93. There is some nice riding out that way but I can't say I really missed the area either.

With the hills we were going to encounter I decided to warn Patrice that I may bail out early if the pain was more than I wanted to deal with. The first good sized hill we encountered was Ries Rd and that was almost the last hill for me. After half the hill, I began to drift backward and was left to just try and keep the others in sight. I hurt and felt there was no power in the legs. Just as frustrating was seeing just how easily the others rode away and knowing that I would normally be right at the front.

Once I descended Ries there was no point in turning back at that point because climbing Ries from that side is most unpleasant. At least this way, I had a nice flat section along Kiefer Creek. We turned up St Paul and the suffering began again. At that point, I had gotten fed up. I grimaced and increased the cadence to try and catch Patrice and Ken and it actually didn't hurt quite as much. Once I caught and passeed them, they countered me after a few seconds. I had nothing in response but I felt better about myself after bridging up to them. I rode the hill up to Ridge in a more controlled manner for some recovery. Next up was Melrose. Again, I tried to stay within myself and got up the hill okay. Then it was down Ossenfort and up Hardt where I pushed a bit harder before having to back off on the upper section. Next up was Orville. Down into the baby gear. Orville hurt. I had no intention of prolonging the pain and lifted the tempo. Patrice served as a nice carrot and helped to distract me from how I felt. We reached the top together and kept going along the twisting rollers. Orville is a fun road. The light was at the end of the tunnel when we began heading up Valley toward Clayton. I sat on Ken's wheel and followed his tempo. Not sure why but the others were well off the back as we reached the top.

At this point, I was satisfied with my ride. While the others stopped for a coffee in Ellisville, Ken and I continued back home although we were somewhat improvising a route. We kind of stumbled upon Ries again and rode back toward Valley Park. By the time we reached 141 I was approaching a mini-bonk. I took no food and had drank about a half bottle. I told Ken I needed to head home through Fenton instead of going up toward Kirkwood. The rest of the way was slow but steady.

The question now is, how much can my pulled muscles heal before Froze Toes.