"Are you sure you rode 100 miles a day?"

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Kim texted me first thing in the morning from her campsite at Charles Mill Lake to say they’d covered 78 miles on the first day of their bike journey to California. After a return text, I did what most older people do at this point…I called.

“How did you ever ride 100 miles a day with all your gear? We were whipped after 78. Are you sure it was 100 miles…I mean you didn’t have GPS back then,” she said. And she’s right…we didn’t have GPS back then. But we did have maps and they did have mileage marked on them and we did know how to add without a calculator. “Yeah Kim…I’m sure we rode a hundred miles a day. In fact, on our second consecutive 100-mile day, we arrived in Kane, Pa. where we went to the local YMCA for a shower. There was a basketball game in progress so we jumped in a played full-court pick-up for the next couple of hours. Todd and I were studs…what can I say?”

She told me that they’d gone through their two tubes on the first day…one to a flat and the other to human error in trying to install it. She didn’t say, but I’m guessing she poked a hole in it with a tire iron when trying to replace the blow out. It’s easy to do and it’s the reason I’d warned her to have about six tubes with her at all times. Hopefully they will make it to a bike store today before further disaster. “People are so nice, too. We stopped at a chicken farm and the owner showed us around and gave us some fresh eggs for dinner,” she said. And I know this is true, too, though I warned her to be careful on the back roads because there are folks looking for mischief, as well. I’ve been through enough of them on my bike to last me a lifetime.

I headed for the park after work and in the muggy, oppressive heat, and completed a hard Survival Workout. I’ve continued to read the ‘Lance’ book and can’t help but want to ride every day, as well. I made it home and since Holly hadn’t arrived from shopping, elected to go for a bike ride. My knee had been almost pain-free all day…encouraging after a 2-hour ride the day before…and I thought a one-hour ride would be appropriate. Lance would have ridden two.

It was a good ride, though I found myself tiring towards the end…probably a combination of not having ridden much over the past few weeks…and the muggy heat. I managed to drink over 20 ounces of water on the ride, something I wouldn’t do normally on such a short distance. I returned home and washed the sweat and grime from the road off by jumping in the neighbor’s pool. Pat loves the challenge of trying to keep the pH balance regulated when I’m using his pool. I like not having to shower all summer.

I went inside to change and decided I needed to weigh in again. I knew I’d be up because I just haven’t been working out as hard and had eaten a couple of pretty big meals. I was shocked to see I’d lost another pound and was checking in at 184.5. I know the day I dipped below 190; I was thinking what a struggle it would be to stay below. In fact, I’ve dropped the next 5 pounds as quickly as I’ve ever dropped weight in my life. The lightest weight I’ve ever achieved as an adult was prior to my Iron Man competitions when I check in around 168…almost 30 years ago. I don’t know if I even want to go there again, but I’m starting to think I could. For now, I’ll just stick to the diet and the workouts and see where it takes me.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes. Bike workout: 75 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600 for survival workout. 1100 biking.