Gulp - Gone and done it now!

[nuthatch]

Say, where's MightyMitre been lately? Her buddy Tom Boonen went and stole the Paris-Roubaix win from big Georgie. I expected her to be posting a "woohoo"! Poor ole George looked like he was going to weep at the post-race interview!

[SnappyPix]

Well, I’m still on a high after cycling my first imperial century yesterday!
It was a great day out, and the group of triathlete ladies I was cycling with were quite a set of characters!
The winds must have been around 30mph, as at one point we were battling against a headwind, changed course and found ourselves coasting on the flat, completely free-wheeling at 33.5mph (without so much as a pedal stroke!).
I was really nervous before the event, thinking I’d be the weakest of the bunch, but in the end, I surprised myself completely by being one of the strongest! The hill climbs were hard but a small group of us found ourselves waiting at the top of each hill for the rest of the group to catch up. I’m used to averaging around 15-17mph, so the pace seemed slow for me at 12.5mph, but it was a wonderful experience cycling as a group (especially a group of 15 women!), having something to judge your fitness against - and having other people who share your passion!
We’d actually on managed 95 miles when we got back, so had to cycle 2.5miles up the road and back to make it a century!
I thought I’d be really dead on my feet at the end of the ride, but could have actually gone on about another 20 – and today I feel fantastic!
Obviously the long training rides prior, and fuelling up properly did the trick(can definitely recommend SIS PSP22 http://www.scienceinsport.com/)
I’m now on a complete high, and already thinking about entering my next event! The ladies suggested I try time trialling, so it might be fun to give it a try!
I’m so excited – cycling is just brilliant!

[spazzdog]

The tri-grrls may be using the ride as a trianer for a different ride. My ex that did Ride the Rockies used to paceline practice... maybe these grrls regularly enter straight bike events as a team.

[nuthatch]

Yaa Snappy!!! How exciting - and just think, you were the inspiration for all those other riders to train and ride harder!

[jobob]

That's great, snappy, brava!

[SnappyPix]

Yaa Snappy!!! How exciting - and just think, you were the inspiration for all those other riders to train and ride harder!

If only! It's just nice to know that I'm not quite the unfit blob I think I am sometimes! I only ever really have myself and my riding partner to compare with usually. It's a weird twist of fate that as I get older I seem to be getting slowly fitter!

[jobob]

It's just nice to know that I'm not quite the unfit blob I think I am sometimes!

LOL, not quite, indeed. It's so hard to shake those mental images of oneself though !

It's a weird twist of fate that as I get older I seem to be getting slowly fitter!

Well, you're not alone - at age 45 I'm in the best shape of my life, and I'm even finally back down to the weight that is shown on my driver's license (which, if memory serves, was what I weighed in my early 20's - somehow I never "updated" that weight )

- Jo.

[jobob]

Say, where's MightyMitre been lately? Her buddy Tom Boonen went and stole the Paris-Roubaix win from big Georgie. I expected her to be posting a "woohoo"! Poor ole George looked like he was going to weep at the post-race interview!

Tee-hee, maybe she's afraid we'll flay her with flat tubes or something.

So I'll start - WooHoo for Tom Boonen, what an enormous accomplishment with back-to-back wins of Tour of Flanders and P-R at such a young age ! Watching the OLN coverage you could just tell once they got on to the track section, there was no way in creation he was going to let Hincapie or Flecha get the best of him.

And BooHoo for George, he was thiiiis close, that has to hurt. Poor bunkie, he just doesn't seem to have that killer instinct, does he?

[slinkedog]

I couldn't believe George didn't just attack on the track. He must not have had the legs. Did anyone get to hear his interview at the end? I didn't get to hear it. Did he say why he held back on the track so much?

[nuthatch]

Yes, I heard it (Bob Roll on OLN). He was still breathing hard and had mud on his face so it must have been immediately after he got done. He said he just didn't have the legs to grab Boonen in that last sprint. It was heartbreaking because you could tell he was having a hard time mastering himself. His baby was howling off to the side, too, so he was distracted. I was wondering how hard it is for them to blast it open on that banked track when they aren't used to riding on it. Boonen didn't seem to have any trouble, though!

[CorsairMac]

Makes ya kinda wonder why USPS let Boonan go eh?.......but I agree on the post-race interview. They say Hin is just a nice guy and he was on the interview. Gave nothing but praise to Tom and said it would just inspire him to come back again next year. But you could tell George really wanted that win! Congrats to All the riders that finished the nasty race!

and thank you whomever for asking: I was just thinking about MM last night and realized I hadn't seen her here in a bit. Anyone know anything about her or how we can find her?

(setting up search parties for MM and Smurf. Gonna have to teach my dogs to sniff out gears and frames)

[spazzdog]

I thought I just saw posts by her... hmmm, maybe they were older posts.


clueless as usual


But the race.... that was fab! I watched at a friend's house. Those cobbles are BRUTAL! My body hurt just watching....

[Melody]

What I thought was insane was that one mechanic. First climbing out of the window while the car was moving to work on one bike... then pulling alongside the one rider and working on the bike while they were both moving!. Insane.

Mel

[Veronica]

That's terrific! Unfit blob, my a**. You're miles ahead of me for the year. Thou shalt not call thyself an unfit blob.

V.

[nuthatch]

What I thought was insane was that one mechanic. First climbing out of the window while the car was moving to work on one bike... then pulling alongside the one rider and working on the bike while they were both moving!. Insane.

Mel

YES! I was just waiting for them to go over some cobbles and vibrate him right off the top.

I really can't see how they toughened up their bikes enough to still ride slim tires over those cobbles. It was crazy! And the way their arms were shaking - for over six hours! Now those are men! Is there a women's Hell of the North? We're probably to sensible!

P.S. I bet MightyMitre is busy working on her wedding plans!!!