Pain and suffering
Rode 103 miles yesterday with Tim. The horror, the horror! Key mistake? Forgot to put on sunblock before leaving home. Thank god I at least had a long sleeve shirt on under my jersey so my arms, which were already mildy burned from Spain, didn't get any worse. I might be in the hospital today. As it is, I woke up this morning and my legs were bright red and stinging badly. I hate sunburns, not so much because they hurt but more because of the idea of damage from the sun, skin cancer, all that.
My legs hurt inside, too. Hadn't ridden anywhere close to that all season, and I'd ridden 30 pretty hard miles Saturday, so I was in some serious pain yesterday. In fact, with the exception of cramping, I think that's the most fatigued I've ever been on a bike. Many times during that last 25 miles I just wanted to be home. I had two flats. My back tire is hosed, I think that's the same tire I rode in STP last year, and it's covered with cracks.
My legs really hurt inside today, too. It's more of a dull, throbbing soreness.
I have a love hate thing going on with road riding. It can be slow suffering. Climbing up a mountain with your cadence at 40, slogging along at 6mph, unable to lift your head up because you're straining so hard, your legs as heavy as sand, it's somewhat sadistic. Maybe I just need to ride in more events, which tend to be fun. On the other hand, it was a beautiful day and it's a great way to see the countryside. I think having people to ride with of comparable or slightly better ability definitely helps.
I don't know how I'm going to finish RAMROD at 156 miles. Well, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting or good for me if it was easy, and I still have 3 weeks of hard core training to prepare for it. Tim is in good shape, he's put in the miles, he'll be ready.
We got lost a few times on the way back from Enumclaw, and some road closures around Sammammish threw us for a loop, literally. We spent way too much time in Issaquah, we decided.
The Tour de France starts Saturday. Can't wait. That may motivate me in my training a bit. Did you know that the Tour is the third most watched sporting event in the world, behind World Cup and the Super Bowl? Few people in the U.S. watch cycling. It's like soccer. But I recommend some of you catch a stage or two this year. The first stage, an individual time trial, is a good one. Or try and catch the team trial, which is one of the most beautiful things to watch in sports, in my opinion.
Saw Ottmar Liebert at the pier yesterday, kicking off Robert and my summer pier concert series. Beautiful night to sit by the water's edge and watch the sunset while listening to some Spanish music. Music was great, and we topped it off with a fat meal at Wild Ginger. I was dying by the time we reached the restaurant, as I'd had just a bowl of cereal and Clif bars and a 6-inch sub all day while riding. Oh, one more good thing about riding: you can eat basically whatever you want because you burn thousands of calories when you're out for six to eight hours on your saddle. I need to shed lots of pounds for RAMROD, it will be a high burn, high consumption month.
My legs hurt inside, too. Hadn't ridden anywhere close to that all season, and I'd ridden 30 pretty hard miles Saturday, so I was in some serious pain yesterday. In fact, with the exception of cramping, I think that's the most fatigued I've ever been on a bike. Many times during that last 25 miles I just wanted to be home. I had two flats. My back tire is hosed, I think that's the same tire I rode in STP last year, and it's covered with cracks.
My legs really hurt inside today, too. It's more of a dull, throbbing soreness.
I have a love hate thing going on with road riding. It can be slow suffering. Climbing up a mountain with your cadence at 40, slogging along at 6mph, unable to lift your head up because you're straining so hard, your legs as heavy as sand, it's somewhat sadistic. Maybe I just need to ride in more events, which tend to be fun. On the other hand, it was a beautiful day and it's a great way to see the countryside. I think having people to ride with of comparable or slightly better ability definitely helps.
I don't know how I'm going to finish RAMROD at 156 miles. Well, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting or good for me if it was easy, and I still have 3 weeks of hard core training to prepare for it. Tim is in good shape, he's put in the miles, he'll be ready.
We got lost a few times on the way back from Enumclaw, and some road closures around Sammammish threw us for a loop, literally. We spent way too much time in Issaquah, we decided.
The Tour de France starts Saturday. Can't wait. That may motivate me in my training a bit. Did you know that the Tour is the third most watched sporting event in the world, behind World Cup and the Super Bowl? Few people in the U.S. watch cycling. It's like soccer. But I recommend some of you catch a stage or two this year. The first stage, an individual time trial, is a good one. Or try and catch the team trial, which is one of the most beautiful things to watch in sports, in my opinion.
Saw Ottmar Liebert at the pier yesterday, kicking off Robert and my summer pier concert series. Beautiful night to sit by the water's edge and watch the sunset while listening to some Spanish music. Music was great, and we topped it off with a fat meal at Wild Ginger. I was dying by the time we reached the restaurant, as I'd had just a bowl of cereal and Clif bars and a 6-inch sub all day while riding. Oh, one more good thing about riding: you can eat basically whatever you want because you burn thousands of calories when you're out for six to eight hours on your saddle. I need to shed lots of pounds for RAMROD, it will be a high burn, high consumption month.