Hike and bike...

Sunday, July 28, 2013
Holly and I went for a hike in the park for an hour, but I knew I needed more hiking time and told her to drive home and I’d walk.  That added another 90 minutes to my effort, which felt easy.  I’m not so sure it will feel easy when I’m doing Tour Ohio and going 25 miles a day, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I went to talk with my sag team director and next door neighbor, Pat, only to discover he’d been having some chest pain over the past several months and had finally gone in to have it checked.

“I’ve got a blocked artery and they’re going to probably have to put a stent in.  Looks like I’m out for driving the sag wagon,” he said.

I was feeling quite sympathetic…for me.  “Pat…why didn’t you just wait to have it all checked out AFTER Tour Ohio?  I mean what’s a little chest pain?  Since when did you become a little girl?”

Okay…maybe I didn’t say that.  He felt pretty bad and promised he’d still come out on the course to take some pictures.  My mind was swimming though on what I’d have to do at this late date to make things work.  The options?  Find another driver or carry our gear on the bikes.  I wasn’t prepared for a pannier set-up on my bike; didn’t have any of that equipment, and I certainly didn’t want to carry that weight on a questionable, older bike anyway.  I put in a call to Paul and Todd to let them know about the development and to see what ideas they might have.  They both promised to give it some thought and get back to me.

John arrived late afternoon for our bike ride and when I told him the news about Pat, he quickly volunteered to do what driving he could, though it would have to be in the second week of the trip since he’d be having another operation on his vocal cords during the first.

“Why do I have all these friends that are sickly and visiting doctors?” I asked. 

He shrugged and we left for a two-hour ride.  During that ride, I discovered the bike was again having shifting issues and knew that I’d be making a trip to Performance Bike for some maintenance in the very near future.  It was a good ride though, and a decent double since I’d done a long hike in the morning.  I do feel ready physically.  I know that some of the conditioning can only come on the trail and so I have to start and let it happen.  It will…if I stay healthy.

Hike duration:  Two hours and 30 minutes.  Bike duration:  Two hours.

Training Heart Rate:  80 hiking and 120 bpm on the bike.
Calories burned during workout:  750 hiking and 1700 on the bike.