My almost no ride birthday ride
OK, I cleared my calendar, worked like crazy to finish some big papers, so I could go on a group ride today, my birthday. It started at a college about an hour and five minutes south of here; I particularly wanted to go, since I had not done any riding in this part of MA.
DH made me a nice breakfast and I sort of was complaining that maybe I didn't want to drive all that way, just to ride. But, I got dressed and gathered my stuff, leaving my house at about 8:30 to get there for a ten o'clock start. Well, I hadn't gone more than 2 miles when the traffic back up began. I always forget about this; I never drive this way in the morning. And I'm not even out of Concord center. And I had to get gas. Did that and the traffic eased up. Got on the first highway, which was OK. Then, I got on the ramp for 95 and the traffic was stopped! It started moving, but by this time it was 9:10. I maybe could have made it, but there were a couple of other notorious places where it might have been bad.So, I made up my mind to get off the highway then. Too bad I got off on an exit where there was a lot of construction and I could only go the opposite way I needed to go. I saw a turn around, some nice lady let me through and I headed west. I wasn't quite sure where I was, but soon realized I was on a road that is part of the one and only charity ride I do. It quickly becomes rural and it was very strange to be on this road in a car. The road is so narrow there are even speed bumps so you have to slow down.
Got home, took my bike out of the car and headed out. I knew I had to go in a different direction than usual, since that would end up being one of my 15- 20 mile loops. So, I decided since it was a weekday, I would try out the Minuteman Bike Trail. It's about 8 miles to the trail from my house; I was dressed fairly warmly, since it was 45 out. I felt a little sluggish, but good. It's a gorgeous fall day, with bright sun and a little wind. I thought I might ride to Lexinton, but ended up going the whole way, to Arlington center, where I shed my head cover and unzipped as much as I could. I guess I should have skipped the Ibex tights because I felt pretty warm. After having a snack, I turned back, but for some reason, the 2% grade felt like a huge hill. Then I remembered the 50 Hindu squats I did yesterday. Oh yea, my quads were burning. I had to slow down a lot. Some guy even dropped me on a rail trail :eek:. When I got back to Concord, I realized I was bonking a little. Why I don't know, so I ate the rest of my bar; the last 5 miles were slow, but I made it. And the best thing of all was that when I got to my front door, the red Gore jacket that I bought from Bluetree had arrived! I ended up riding 35 miles, almost as long as the group ride would have been.
