I visited John in the hospital again and found him playing with his internet connection through the wide screen TV mounted on the wall at the end of his bed. He was struggling because the remote was acting nothing like a mouse.
“You try it,” he said, handing it off.
Well…I went right to my blog. I wanted to see it on the big screen and it would give him the chance to read about himself since I’d immortalized him twice in two days. I found it and watched as ‘Back to Basics’ came to life on his huge monitor. He began reading…and contradicting.
“I’ve told you before but I suppose it bears repeating…it’s my blog and I write whatever I want to. You want an opportunity to rebut…write your own,” I said.
When I arrived home after work, I was still trying to decide which course I would take on my bike ride. The winds were blowing steady and gusting over 40 mph…normally a signal for all cyclists to take a day off…but it was 60 degrees in early March. I was riding.
I headed south and east for my Pekin Road ride hoping to get in 40 miles or more before dark. The wind was out of the south…the direction I was traveling… and progress was difficult over the first 30 minutes. I did what all cyclists do at this point…I cursed the wind. This has the effect of making it turn direction…following the path of your bike…and regardless of the turns you make, it will always be in – your – face. Lovely.
I pushed hard to try and reach a turn-around point that would get the miles I wanted and have me home before dark settled in. I made it out past Butternut on Pekin and kept going east…beyond my turn-around time. I’ve ridden the final miles in the dark before and knew plenty of safe side streets I could ride over the final miles to avoid trouble…so what the hell. At 21 miles, I turned…into the wind again…and headed for home.
At the 30 mile mark fatigue overtook my efforts. The backs of my legs were aching from the effort of climbing up Berkshire Hill and the final miles home were filled with cursing and pain. I kept reminding myself how great it should be to be out riding instead of locked to a trainer…but my brain and body were having none of it. When I finally pulled into the driveway about a half an hour past dark, I was shot. I ached everywhere but this was a perfect example of “good pain”. It was nothing more than fatigue from a tough effort and would likely be unnoticeable tomorrow…at least that’s what I was hoping.
I made a dinner of green beans, mushrooms and onions and chased it with a huge fruit smoothie. I’d burned a lot of calories and didn’t want to put them back too quickly. A good day.
Bike Duration: Two hours and 35 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2150.
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