It has become a broken record but, except for an hour spin on Thursday, I successfully sat on my bum for all of last week. The less I ride, the more bummed out I get about not riding. The more bummed out I get, the less I want to ride. Thus begins the death spiral of fitness.
Saturday's ride was not exactly a lift to the spirits. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Patrice must have slapped a testosterone patch on his chamois before putting on his shorts. We crossed Hwy 3, turned onto Main St. That quarter mile warm up must have seemed sufficient and Patrice began drilling the pace through town.
Winds were out of the west and that only seemed to encourage the hard riding as we made full use of the tailwind on the ride to Smithton. Patrice may have started the activities but Giuseppe was the main protagonist with long, hard pulls that no one dared to try and come around. Along the way I sucked about a half dozen eggs, which was easy since I was desperately gasping for air.
The strong headwind on the way back to Columbia seemed to settle things down a little, thank goodness. Still, the last hill on the D Rd was one too many and I limped home the last couple miles.
Sunday, I rode out to our Kirkwood ride. I got a good early start because I didn't know how I would feel. What a day! Sunny, not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 60's. Not your typical late June morning in St Lou.
Apparently, the great weather made one of the neighborhood walkers blissfully ignorant of her surroundings. She was listening to her Ipod, clad in a yellowish top and long black tights, walking down the very middle of the freakin' street. Listen babe, it was mildly entertaining watching you walk but are you an idiot? Move over before you get killed!!!
The rest of the trip to Meramec seemed like a constant headwind. Since I left early, I arrived well before 8:30 and circled around the parking lot. As I half expected, the claims of 'bad legs' were being made from the moment we gathered. Frankly, I wasn't buying it, because I was the only one with bad legs the day before and I felt okay.
Despite the professed bad sensations, we mustered the willpower to ride further. The decision was to do our 'flat' Jeffco ride. Aside from floodwater lapping at the edges of Marshall Rd, the ride out to Haute Arrete was fairly brisk but nothing special. We goaded Patrice into continuing the ride. He stopped after a mile or so to get something out of his shoe and decided to turn at that point. Frankly, I think he just wanted to be sure he would be back in time for Euro 2008.
Giuseppe and I pushed onward through Ressorts de Maison and Colline de Cedre. The clouds grew thicker and finally dropped a few drops on our return trip. While at the gas station in Ressorts de Maison I was struck by how pretty the surrounding hills were in that spot if you looked past the shopping center and electrical lines and other trappings of civilization.
It turned into a very nice ride. Cramps started to grab my legs toward the end but not in a bad way. The ride was 72 miles that I really needed. My brother's family is coming into town this week so squeezing in a ride may be tough but it will be needed. I am scheduled to ride RAIN on 7/12 and am completely unprepared. Aww heck, it's only 160 miles.
Saturday's ride was not exactly a lift to the spirits. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Patrice must have slapped a testosterone patch on his chamois before putting on his shorts. We crossed Hwy 3, turned onto Main St. That quarter mile warm up must have seemed sufficient and Patrice began drilling the pace through town.
Winds were out of the west and that only seemed to encourage the hard riding as we made full use of the tailwind on the ride to Smithton. Patrice may have started the activities but Giuseppe was the main protagonist with long, hard pulls that no one dared to try and come around. Along the way I sucked about a half dozen eggs, which was easy since I was desperately gasping for air.
The strong headwind on the way back to Columbia seemed to settle things down a little, thank goodness. Still, the last hill on the D Rd was one too many and I limped home the last couple miles.
Sunday, I rode out to our Kirkwood ride. I got a good early start because I didn't know how I would feel. What a day! Sunny, not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 60's. Not your typical late June morning in St Lou.
Apparently, the great weather made one of the neighborhood walkers blissfully ignorant of her surroundings. She was listening to her Ipod, clad in a yellowish top and long black tights, walking down the very middle of the freakin' street. Listen babe, it was mildly entertaining watching you walk but are you an idiot? Move over before you get killed!!!
The rest of the trip to Meramec seemed like a constant headwind. Since I left early, I arrived well before 8:30 and circled around the parking lot. As I half expected, the claims of 'bad legs' were being made from the moment we gathered. Frankly, I wasn't buying it, because I was the only one with bad legs the day before and I felt okay.
Despite the professed bad sensations, we mustered the willpower to ride further. The decision was to do our 'flat' Jeffco ride. Aside from floodwater lapping at the edges of Marshall Rd, the ride out to Haute Arrete was fairly brisk but nothing special. We goaded Patrice into continuing the ride. He stopped after a mile or so to get something out of his shoe and decided to turn at that point. Frankly, I think he just wanted to be sure he would be back in time for Euro 2008.
Giuseppe and I pushed onward through Ressorts de Maison and Colline de Cedre. The clouds grew thicker and finally dropped a few drops on our return trip. While at the gas station in Ressorts de Maison I was struck by how pretty the surrounding hills were in that spot if you looked past the shopping center and electrical lines and other trappings of civilization.
It turned into a very nice ride. Cramps started to grab my legs toward the end but not in a bad way. The ride was 72 miles that I really needed. My brother's family is coming into town this week so squeezing in a ride may be tough but it will be needed. I am scheduled to ride RAIN on 7/12 and am completely unprepared. Aww heck, it's only 160 miles.
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