It had been some time since I’d done a long, hard ride and I decided tonight was the night. My back has been pain-free for several days, but this would be the test. I wanted to climb hard and ride longer with a solid effort to see where I was. I headed for my Waite Hill course with confidence. It didn’t end that way.
It’s quite amazing just how quickly conditioning leaves the body. After four weeks of riding 250 miles a week, I was as fit as I’ve been on a bike in years. Then…knee pain had set in and the riding was greatly curtailed. Now…several weeks later and having ridden 3-4 times per week during that period, you would think I’d be able to handle a hard ride pretty easily. It went well for about 90 minutes…the longest I’ve ridden recently…and then I began to tire. My back felt good, but my legs were quitting. As I rode the final miles of a 45-mile ride, cramps began to assail my quads and I haven’t had any of those in two months. Damn.
The good news…no back soreness. I can deal with getting my cycling legs back, though I may begin running more and cut back anyways. I’m planning a Labor Day trip to the Adirondacks with my girls and will need to have my hiking and climbing legs strong again…so more hiking and running in the near future…if the knee holds up.
Bike Duration: 2 hour and 30 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2100.
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