Week 6
The Ride That Almost Wasn't (And Probably Shouldn't Have Been)
70 Miles - 7 1/2 Hours
Another lonely ride today but Ryan had another obligation and I had been tied up on Saturday. I needed to get out and ride plus i wanted to check my NEW $%$#%# bike out. Alas, let's start at the beginning though.
I wanted to get up early and out the door as early as possible given that it's an hour drive to the "start" and I wanted to take off at daylight. So, the night before i had laid everything out, packed up the gear and food and loaded it all in the car. So, Sunday, i got up, drank my coffee, put on my riding clothes, remembered to get the Camelbak out of the refrigerator, got in the car and took off........i was 1/2 mile away (fortunately no more than that) when i suddenly realized that it would be alot easier to ride if one had a bike!!!!!!! I had forgotten to load the bike on the car (since i wouldn't leave it on the car all night) So much for my good intentions. I turned around and got the bike and started over again. i should have known then what kind of day it was going to be....you see, i had not had a chance to ride my new bike yet and i knew instinctively that it was not wise to ride a long ride without having checked it out...but, you know me...God forbid i miss a weekend. So, at 7:17 I turned on my stopwatch and started riding around the parking lot. i can't remember the first things i notice wrong but i think it was the toe clips so i stopped to fix them before venturing out on the W&OD trail.
So, off I go.....cursing these treaded tires right away...and cursing the bozo that i believed when he said "shouldn't make any difference" - yeah right. i had learned that it does make a difference when i did Bike Virginia so I should have just told him to change the tires early on. But, no, not me, I believed him. Perhaps Ryan was very lucky that he didn't come on the ride cuz he would have to listen to my complaining for the ENTIRE ride. I started out with short goals like getting to "our" 7-11 first off (6.3 miles). I noted two positive things early on (and they were the only two positive things!!!!). One was that surprisingly i could now "stand up" on the bike - my other bike i could not. i don't know why that is. I also found that although it's the same size allegedly, the toe clips do not drag on the ground if you dont get your foot right into them and about that i was ecstatic.
My back started hurting early. so i stopped, stretched, crammed "MOMENTUM" down my throat and road on. i had forgotten to stretch before i started and was now paying for it. These things didn't do much good for long though. finally i decided to stop and see if i could raise my seat. That done and i could extend my legs a bit better. But i was not happy with the way the handlebars fit. it was too far to bend over and i think they need to be raised up. but i dont know how to do that. what a bummer.
at mile 14-15 the next fun thing of the day started. my chain/gear/whatever (you can tell i'm not very bicycle literate) started slipping. boy was that a bummer. this is a brand new blasted bike mind you. i was P.O.ed - it's early sunday a.m. and there's no one around...not that i would have the guts to stop and ask one of the jocks how to fix the darn thing anyway. I remembered that Ryan had said there was a bike store somewhere along the way...at mile 17 i found the sign, went up to the shop hoping against hope that it would be open but it wasn't - too early on a sunday morning. i was NOT going to let this keep me from reaching my goal for today but wasn't sure of its significance..every three of four turns of the wheel it would go "a-clunk, a-clunk" etc.
More miles down the trail...fortunately it was a beautiful day so that was one really nice thing....then i finally saw a sign for another bike shop but i wasn't far from 35 miles out so i figured it was still a bit early..i'll go out to the end and turn around and hit the bike shop on the way back.
I had only planned on doing 60 but thought i would push for 70 - it took 3 hours and 35 minutes (total time) to get to 35 miles. i took 11 minutes for "lunch" and headed back. by the time i reached 39 miles i was wiped. i had been drinking gatorade and the water from my camelbak but didnt want to keep drinking heedlesslly and then run out before i got back. Without Ryan i couldnt go in a 7-11 or other store and leave my bike unlocked. bummer, i knew he was good for something (actually he's good for a lot but dont tell him). Then i went up to the the bike shop and found that it was closed on Sunday during the winter..double bummer...although that is not exactly the word i used on sunday. i made it back to the trail and pushed on. at mile 40 -45 it started to get worse. i dislike passing people then 5 minutes later they pass me on a hill and that was happening all day from then on. and my back was really bothering me, plus the "ca-clunk, a-clunk" of the chain! What a great day this was. All i could do was shoot for the next mile and have 1 or 10 mile goals.."i know i can make it to mile 52. i know i can make it to mile 53" etc. ugh...talk about hitting a wall. now i know where they put the Berlin wall when they knocked it down. right there on the W&OD trail. i wasn't sure i was going to make it back. or at least when? Thank goodness i had put some Biofreeze in my bag because i stopped at Luck Stone Rock Quarry (didnt have my camera...that would have made a great photo) to use the porta-potty and then put that stuff on my back. That helped tremendously (along with more drugs....i used enough Aspirin that day to make my ears ring). but it was the tire tread and resistance that kept getting me down.
Anyway with only 20 miles to go, the sun came popping out all of a sudden! i rode on for while and then realized that i was sweltering. i finally stopped and took off my sweatshirt and stuffed it in my bag. that helped some. i was running out of water but still had enough gatorade but really wanted water. at least the camelbak was keeping it cold.
foot after foot, mile after mile, i finally made it back to the car...the last 10+ miles i cursed Ryan because i wanted to go to the Outback and devour a steak so badly but i'm not going to go there alone. i could taste the Bloomin Onion!!!!!!!!! Where is a good man like Ryan when you really need and want him.
So, after another 3 hours and 44 minutes total time i made it back and the ride was over.
total time was 7 hrs 31 minutes. Total Riding Time was 6 hours and 18 minutes. Total Distance was 70.3 miles
Sorry this was so boring..but the fun thing was that i saw alot of animals that were neat and that i cannot name since i'm a true city girl. i knew there was a rabbit and two bright red birds and a gopher or something like that..maybe a groundhog? not sure but neat..and of course i didnt have my camera.
Alas, Til week 7!
Love you all,
Terrie
70 Miles - 7 1/2 Hours
Another lonely ride today but Ryan had another obligation and I had been tied up on Saturday. I needed to get out and ride plus i wanted to check my NEW $%$#%# bike out. Alas, let's start at the beginning though.
I wanted to get up early and out the door as early as possible given that it's an hour drive to the "start" and I wanted to take off at daylight. So, the night before i had laid everything out, packed up the gear and food and loaded it all in the car. So, Sunday, i got up, drank my coffee, put on my riding clothes, remembered to get the Camelbak out of the refrigerator, got in the car and took off........i was 1/2 mile away (fortunately no more than that) when i suddenly realized that it would be alot easier to ride if one had a bike!!!!!!! I had forgotten to load the bike on the car (since i wouldn't leave it on the car all night) So much for my good intentions. I turned around and got the bike and started over again. i should have known then what kind of day it was going to be....you see, i had not had a chance to ride my new bike yet and i knew instinctively that it was not wise to ride a long ride without having checked it out...but, you know me...God forbid i miss a weekend. So, at 7:17 I turned on my stopwatch and started riding around the parking lot. i can't remember the first things i notice wrong but i think it was the toe clips so i stopped to fix them before venturing out on the W&OD trail.
So, off I go.....cursing these treaded tires right away...and cursing the bozo that i believed when he said "shouldn't make any difference" - yeah right. i had learned that it does make a difference when i did Bike Virginia so I should have just told him to change the tires early on. But, no, not me, I believed him. Perhaps Ryan was very lucky that he didn't come on the ride cuz he would have to listen to my complaining for the ENTIRE ride. I started out with short goals like getting to "our" 7-11 first off (6.3 miles). I noted two positive things early on (and they were the only two positive things!!!!). One was that surprisingly i could now "stand up" on the bike - my other bike i could not. i don't know why that is. I also found that although it's the same size allegedly, the toe clips do not drag on the ground if you dont get your foot right into them and about that i was ecstatic.
My back started hurting early. so i stopped, stretched, crammed "MOMENTUM" down my throat and road on. i had forgotten to stretch before i started and was now paying for it. These things didn't do much good for long though. finally i decided to stop and see if i could raise my seat. That done and i could extend my legs a bit better. But i was not happy with the way the handlebars fit. it was too far to bend over and i think they need to be raised up. but i dont know how to do that. what a bummer.
at mile 14-15 the next fun thing of the day started. my chain/gear/whatever (you can tell i'm not very bicycle literate) started slipping. boy was that a bummer. this is a brand new blasted bike mind you. i was P.O.ed - it's early sunday a.m. and there's no one around...not that i would have the guts to stop and ask one of the jocks how to fix the darn thing anyway. I remembered that Ryan had said there was a bike store somewhere along the way...at mile 17 i found the sign, went up to the shop hoping against hope that it would be open but it wasn't - too early on a sunday morning. i was NOT going to let this keep me from reaching my goal for today but wasn't sure of its significance..every three of four turns of the wheel it would go "a-clunk, a-clunk" etc.
More miles down the trail...fortunately it was a beautiful day so that was one really nice thing....then i finally saw a sign for another bike shop but i wasn't far from 35 miles out so i figured it was still a bit early..i'll go out to the end and turn around and hit the bike shop on the way back.
I had only planned on doing 60 but thought i would push for 70 - it took 3 hours and 35 minutes (total time) to get to 35 miles. i took 11 minutes for "lunch" and headed back. by the time i reached 39 miles i was wiped. i had been drinking gatorade and the water from my camelbak but didnt want to keep drinking heedlesslly and then run out before i got back. Without Ryan i couldnt go in a 7-11 or other store and leave my bike unlocked. bummer, i knew he was good for something (actually he's good for a lot but dont tell him). Then i went up to the the bike shop and found that it was closed on Sunday during the winter..double bummer...although that is not exactly the word i used on sunday. i made it back to the trail and pushed on. at mile 40 -45 it started to get worse. i dislike passing people then 5 minutes later they pass me on a hill and that was happening all day from then on. and my back was really bothering me, plus the "ca-clunk, a-clunk" of the chain! What a great day this was. All i could do was shoot for the next mile and have 1 or 10 mile goals.."i know i can make it to mile 52. i know i can make it to mile 53" etc. ugh...talk about hitting a wall. now i know where they put the Berlin wall when they knocked it down. right there on the W&OD trail. i wasn't sure i was going to make it back. or at least when? Thank goodness i had put some Biofreeze in my bag because i stopped at Luck Stone Rock Quarry (didnt have my camera...that would have made a great photo) to use the porta-potty and then put that stuff on my back. That helped tremendously (along with more drugs....i used enough Aspirin that day to make my ears ring). but it was the tire tread and resistance that kept getting me down.
Anyway with only 20 miles to go, the sun came popping out all of a sudden! i rode on for while and then realized that i was sweltering. i finally stopped and took off my sweatshirt and stuffed it in my bag. that helped some. i was running out of water but still had enough gatorade but really wanted water. at least the camelbak was keeping it cold.
foot after foot, mile after mile, i finally made it back to the car...the last 10+ miles i cursed Ryan because i wanted to go to the Outback and devour a steak so badly but i'm not going to go there alone. i could taste the Bloomin Onion!!!!!!!!! Where is a good man like Ryan when you really need and want him.
So, after another 3 hours and 44 minutes total time i made it back and the ride was over.
total time was 7 hrs 31 minutes. Total Riding Time was 6 hours and 18 minutes. Total Distance was 70.3 miles
Sorry this was so boring..but the fun thing was that i saw alot of animals that were neat and that i cannot name since i'm a true city girl. i knew there was a rabbit and two bright red birds and a gopher or something like that..maybe a groundhog? not sure but neat..and of course i didnt have my camera.
Alas, Til week 7!
Love you all,
Terrie
posted by Terrie at
11:32 PM
