The cycling gods were smiling down upon Northeast Ohio. After three months of temperatures closer to zero than to forty, it was fifty and sunny. I drove towards home with one thought in mind – an outdoor ride. And the beauty of it was, daylight savings time had begun so I’d have an extra hour of daylight to punish myself. Oh joy!
I pumped up UB’s tires, filled my water bottle, tucked a stocking hat into the pocket of my riding jersey in case I got cold and pedaled down the driveway. My plan was to ride my Waite Hill course, which would give me a ride of about an hour and twenty minutes. I’d done all my riding throughout the winter on the trainer and never went more than an hour. Though my legs were reasonably strong, you never face the wind or hills on a trainer and I’d have plenty of both on this voyage. I expected, but did not encounter, too much snow melt. I don’t like riding through it as it kicks salt up on the bike and makes a mess of the moving parts. When I reached the point where I would have to turn, I elected instead to keep heading east and following my Mulberry Road course. At that moment, it seemed like a swell idea.
The farther from home I rode, the more I began to think about how long it would take to complete this course. I had the wind at my back on the way out; the winds always seemed to be blowing out of the northwest. When I finally turned into the wind for the last hour of riding, I was becoming fatigued. I slowed considerably and thought about just taking it easy and getting some saddle time. As I climbed the final hill of the ride just past Squire’s Castle on River Road, my thighs began to cramp. I struggled in over the final seven miles having taken over two hours. I felt okay about it since I knew I shouldn’t have gone that long since my last outdoor ride had been three months earlier, but it worked out okay. I knew that I could afford a bowl of ice cream, too, so I had that going for me.
Bike workout: Two hours and 13 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1850.
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