Down, but not out...

Thursday, July 4, 2013

For many years I began each fourth of July with a long bike ride after which I would go to my parents’ house to set up festivities for the family gathering.  We’d have a baseball game, volleyball and badminton matches and in some years, wheelbarrow, three-legged races and other semi-competitive activities.

Those days are gone with the passing and changing of time, but the strong pull to rise early and mount the bike remains.  I hit the road before 9, which is not really early, and began what I’d hoped would be a 50+ mile ride. 

The humidity continues to be high and with sweat pouring from my body by the 10-minute mark and my legs feeling like I was cycling in sand, I started thinking this ride was not going to be quite so long.

I was heading east on Pekin Road and thinking I’d at least push myself to the 20-mile mark before turning around.  I felt absolutely shitty as I approached that mark, but the thought that I’d feel even worse in several weeks as I was pushing myself along the Tour Ohio cycling course and needed to persevere.  I passed the 20-mile mark and kept going.

I rode to my pre-determined point in Middlefield, 27 miles from home and dismounted the bike for a short breather and to check the cell phone.  No messages, so I remounted and began the journey home.  Since I don’t retrace the course on the way back normally, which adds another 3-4 miles to the course, I was wondering if I’d make it in one piece.  After three hours of riding, I was moving like a much older version of myself and praying the leg cramps wouldn’t start.  They never did and with 5 miles left to ride, I knew I’d make it with a little something left in the tank.

Holly was home and working in the yard when I finally arrived.  I staggered to the Wilson’s pool and fell in completely clothed.  It refreshed me to a degree, but it was the smoothie that really helped me turn the corner.  About an hour after arriving home, I was in the yard digging, hacking and pulling weeds and breaking a fresh, new sweat.

Humidity is a killer robbing as much as 20 percent from a distance effort when not acclimated.  The only way to fix it is to exercise in it.  A couple of more days of this and I’ll be ready to push it again.  Until then, I’ll continue to feel and look like a slug. 

Bike duration:  Three hours and 45 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  3150.