Snowed out on the bike

Saturday, April 17, 2010




It looked like it was going to be a good day. I headed for the park a little after 7 a.m. to sunshine, blue skies and temperatures in the low 40’s. I was sure it would warm by the early afternoon when John and I headed out on the bike and it was perfect for my 55-minute run. I had decided to do my park loop course and add a couple of minutes since I’d been finishing it in around 53:30 recently.

Once into the woods, I remembered why I love morning runs. It is so much more alive! The birds were chattering, I was scaring up deer everywhere and the long shadows cutting through the morning mist created by the rising sun made it serene. The book ‘Born to Run’ was having its influence, too. It talked of running with the terrain and taking what it gives you and I was doing just that. I started slowly and leaned into the hills. I remembered to enjoy every contour, which had me looking forward to the topography changes instead of dreading them. I was moving easily and listening carefully.

By the time I reached the 40-minute mark, I was starting to dread the end of the run. I was having too much fun and would have gone longer, but for the rest of my plans for the day. I reached the car in 53:02 – a new pr by 27 seconds and kept on going for another 2 minutes. Man, it felt easy!

When I arrived home, I pulled the kayaks around to the front yard, ate some oat bran and grabbed my daughter, Heidi, who would be joining me for this leg. We loaded the kayaks on the jeep and headed for Russell Park just outside of Burton and the northern most put-in for the Upper Cuyahoga. It was overcast now and the precipitation that was falling was more white than wet. Heidi was upset that she’d forgotten to recharge her camera battery – she loved taking pictures along this scenic stretch of river, but I had mine, at least.

We were both wearing gloves and I had on pants, t-shirt, and sweatshirt. It was cold. There were a few fishing boats on the river and they had effectively scared off any wildlife, though I did see one beaver. We kept it simple, paddling about 30 minutes down river and then turning back into the current, which is slow, and the wind, which was blowing hard. By the time we returned to the pull-out, I’d gotten 63 minutes of kayaking – more than the required 55. I got out of my kayak and turned to watch Heidi climbing from hers in time to see something fall from her pocket and into the river.

“You dropped something, Heidi.”

“Oh no – my phone,” she said as she plunged her gloved hand into the murky water.

We dried it on the dashboard during the ride home and it was working before we got out of the car.

I stopped at Dan’s in Chardon before heading home to pick up some warm weather gear for the bike ride. I was in the Honda and he hadn’t finished the repairs. When I arrived there, it was snowing pretty hard.

“You’re going to ride a bike 55 miles in this crap?”

“Well…no. If it stays like this, I’ll shoot for tomorrow,” I replied, hoping things would change…and soon. John was meeting me back at the house and I wanted to get this thing done. I drove home through increasing snow and slush and came to the realization that it wasn’t meant to be. I’m persistent, but usually not foolish and riding in these conditions was slippery, dangerous and no fun at all. It could wait a day.

I told John what I was thinking when he arrived and suggested we go for a hike, instead.

“Oh man…I just bought new shoes, a helmet, gloves and this cool tool to work on my bike if we break down,” he whined. It was the whine of relief, though. He wasn’t fooling me for a second. He hated the cold and it was 41 with a snowy mist falling. I again suggested we go for a hike, but he said he didn’t have the gear for that, so we sat in the warm kitchen and shot the breeze for an hour, making plans for a 55 miler next Saturday. I told him I’d likely do one tomorrow for my birthday, too.

So that was that. Mother Nature determined I would do only two of the three legs. It was a great run though, and I love kayaking with Heidi. Maybe I’d have better luck tomorrow.

Run duration: 55 minutes. Kayak duration: 63 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 135 running. 75 kayaking.

Calories burned during workout: 935 running. 400 hiking.