Did my Monday ride out of Lancaster. Throughout the day I felt rather lousy, crampy, legs like lead, felt tight restricted lungs/chest, hadn't ridden in several days, and my 1 o'clock terrible sandwich from the cafeteria was still with me at 5 pm. The ride started at 6 pm but once I got on the bike I quickly worked through all those things - somehow it all just fell into place. I ended up having a very good ride and I felt stronger than I expected. We mainly rode through Harvard and Bolton. Overall the terrain was reasonably mild - we encountered some nice varied rolling topography in Harvard and a fairly short but fun graded hill along Wilder-Old Bay Rd in Bolton, which is otherwise a flat riding town. It was just one of those rides that ended up being very good and satisfying and after getting back that was the general consensus of the group. Unfortunately we were only able to get 30 miles in before dark, and even then we were riding in darkness for the last 4 miles. So, tonight, no PB but 17.1 mph at 30 miles.

Earlier in the day I went for an asthma test based on spirometry screening. Following the positive response of this test the nurse recommended I get more sophisticated testing at the hospital.

Hmm. Now I never thought I might be asthmatic. I do feel tightness in the chest sometimes. And I can breathe very heavy on the hills. Over the years I thought that as I advanced to the next level during the season, my cardio was just bad and I was out of shape for "that level" of exertion and I just had to get in condition for it. But on occasion, I would cough after an all out on "some" hills and it would seem as if I just couldn't get that full breath. And it happens alot when I run. It can be warm and humid or cool and dry. I just thought this was through natural exertion until someone with exercised induced asthma told me that is a classic symptom. So it's nearly 50 years that I end up figuring this out. Interestingly, it never has really prevented me from riding just fine or improving during the course of the season. But if I find this is the case how nice that I might be able to remedy it and even breathe better and get more oxygen in while I bike. I truly don't believe I am an extreme case at all and I certainly don't wheeze or have fits. There's one woman who rides with us sometimes on Saturday's and she'll start coughing at even small inclines. I feel so bad for her - no wonder she hates hills because they must be so painful for her. But she still gets out.