Lets reel back to a day before. I worked it out that I could take Becky out for a little ride while soccer practice was going on. I think she had a good time. It was not too far, but just enough for her to get a little work out and still enjoy herself enough to want to go back out. I hope the bike bug hits her again and she will start riding more. I sure do miss the times that we were riding together just about every day.
As we were winding down, I thought that I could make the 7:50 hot lap. We were pushing the time, but I figured it would be close. After we got back, I made sure to have a few things I needed and off I went. When I got there, they were already gone. I figured they could not be too far as I was not that late. I took another route to try and intercept the train. I got to a place I figure I would be good and started riding the loop backward, but never saw them. So, I went my own way pushing it some as I could. I eventually ended up out near a section I knew they would be passing. As they went by I was shot and was not going to jump on. Then at the last minute I decided to try. After giving it everything I had, we rolled up to the biggest hill of the loop and I watched them roll away. On the down hill I was getting close to catching them, but another little climb and it was all I had. I did meet up with them and it turns out they started a little early. They also ran a pace that I am not sure I wanted anything to do with. No matter what I had a good little ride in.
Then the next day we had a little group that was going out for a ride. I never know what to expect or where Brian will take me, but I can always guarantee it will be a good ride. Well, it turns out we were going to head back to Ferdinand. But, it was not like last week was not hilly enough, I then hear something about hitting Ferdinand Forest Road. WHAT!!! I know what that road is like and it will not be fun. The ride started out fairly flat, but we were moving along at a good pace even going into the wind. We were doing good until we had a flat tire in Huntingburg. Brian was nice enough to change it.
It didn't take long to get moving again and off we were. The pace was still going good. I was a little worried about how well I would be climbing once we hit the bigger hills with the current pace. We seemed to be going a lot faster pace than we should have been for where we were going. I was not riding bad and actually keeping up on the sections that pointed up. I even had a section that I was pulling 24 mph or so and it didn't feel like I was even going 20. Of course it was right before a few hills and then all of a sudden I could feel the effort I just put in. I tried to keep the pace up as I climbed and didn't seem to do too bad, but I think everyone was just going slower so they didn't drop me. I was just hoping I was not burning too many matches this early. There was a good sized hill before we hit Ferdinand that I seemed to feel in the legs more than the previous hills.
Not long after that, we took a section to slow down to get some food down. The bigger hills were not far away. I was still riding fairly good and only got dropped a little on a really big hill. I was not the only one falling off the pack, just the one the farthest back. It didn't take that long to catch up and we were moving good again. At this point we did something that I don't believe I have ever done. The whole group passed a tractor and bobcat. I am sure he had not seen that too often either. It was interesting flying by him.
There were some more hills after that and I was slower than I was on the previous hills, but I think everyone was feeling it by then as I didn't get dropped like I thought I would. Some how I regrouped and was feeling better than expected. It seemed like the whole group was not looking to hit too many more hills, but we still had a ways to get back to the car. The flat sections were still moving at a good clip. I even took a pull up front that was pretty strong. Much stronger than I would have expected. I think we were all shocked that we averaged 19.5 mph for the route with all the hills. I sure was not expecting that, but it does make some sense with the speeds we were running on the other sections. I am also sure that little bit that I hit 44 mph didn't hurt either.
After the ride I was shot. I didn't have a lot left and was feeling nasty. It was all I could do to put the bike on the car. Why didn't I buy a hitch rack? It felt great to get home, hop in the shower and then drink my R4. I didn't get a lot of rest as I had said I would help seat up some tubeless tires for a teammate. I was very glad the first tire was a piece of cake, but it was the second one that was not very cooperating. I thought we were going to burn up my little compressor, so we headed in to my work where a much larger compressor has saved my tail several times before seating up non-tubeless tires as tubeless tires. It still struggled to get that tire popped on, but eventually it could get the air in there just right to blow it up and we were off to the races.
I then put the tools away, heated up my supper and had Basket Case Brewery Busta.... well maybe two. Overall I am very happy with myself. I seem to be getting faster almost every ride out. I really need this to continue. I need to put a more serious effort at loosing some weight and riding more than one or two times a week. I am not sure how it will all transfer over to the mtb for racing, but it has to be better than previous years. I need to put some more time in on the trails, but the weather has not been the best for that. Someday I hope to be able to step it up enough to be top 10 overall in Cat 2 on any weekend. I have already stepped it up from previous years. I noticed that this ride put me over 650 miles for the year. That is a lot for me. I know that most of them are on the road, but they are still miles and not junk miles. I just hope I can figure out a way to get it all worked in.
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