weekend rides - the fable of the turtle and the hare

[Biciclista]

My husband marks all our rides on the calendar. and there it was; P4 on Saturday the 2nd. Some of you know I am doing a P12 this year, that means 12 permanents of 100k or about 63 miles, once a month, for a year. And yesterday I finished my 4th one.

Permanents are pre-planned routes with checkpoints (buying a candy bar at a minimart for example, and getting a receipt) to show where you were and when you were there.
Here in Seattle, we got over an inch of rain on Friday. It rained so intensely that sometimes a cloud just descended on Boeing field while I nervously watched out the window.
Before it was light on Saturday we were up, me with this great foreboding of doom, I knew I would be incredibly miserable if it rained all day on our ride. But as the sky grew light, I noticed the pavement was dry-ish. I donned an array of wool clothing, and covered myself with my Showers Pass Elite jacket, sidi bike shoes and booties.
There were about a dozen riders and most of them are hardened veterans of tough long rides. My husband let me know in no uncertain terms that I would probably only see their backsides and only at the beginning of the ride.
The ride started at 9am and everyone else was still drinking coffee and chit chatting. I was ready to go. My DH was running the ride; he said "Go ahead and leave Mimi, we'll catch up" So I hopped on my trusty Cavalletta and headed north on the Burke Gilman trail. Less than a mile later, my friends started catching up with me, and soon, I was at the tail end of the ride.


(here I am still close to the other riders)

After a bathroom stop, I found myself close to some of the other riders, and with great bursts of energy, I was able to stick to them for a while.
Eventually, totally out of breath and legs burning, I slowed down, the headwind was just killing me. I have a lot of trouble in pacelines, I don't have depth perception and it is really scary to be that close to other bikes.
It's a good way to conserve energy on windy days; but alas, I was on my own.. At every rest stop, I ate, used facilities, filled waterbottles, got receipts and got back on my bike. At the halfway point, people sat down and had lunch. Several riders took off their helmets and relaxed, while I stood and ate my peanutbutter sandwich. No sitting for me, I was doing enough of that on the bike.
For the second quarter of the ride, DH positioned himself in front of me, like a carrot, riding a very steady pace of about 14 or 15 miles an hour. I could never quite keep up with him, but it kept me pushing much harder than I felt like doing, particularly in the wind.
Finally we got to the turn around point, and we had some wind at our backs. I noticed that the ground was wet, that our window of dry weather was coming to an end. I sped down the road at speeds close to 20mph, it was lovely. But my legs were starting to hurt, I knew that when we turned the bend that headwind was going to sock me. the rain started in fits, and sometimes came down hard, or just spit at us. Encased in two layers of wool, I got wet, but as long as I was moving, it was fine.
the last quarter of the ride was just pain to me. My neck hurt, my arms hurt, my lower back complained, my legs and my knees hurt. the tailwind deserted me and I honestly don't know if I had a headwind or not, but 12 mph became my new stick to point. I watched as my DH disappeared around a bend ahead of me and took a moment to stop and move all those body parts for a minute.
Usually the last 5 miles of a ride are an exultation. Joy, relief, satisfaction. This time they seemed to go on forever and ever, I wanted to cry because my legs ached. I was riding the BK trail, so very familiar to me, so I knew right where I was at least. Finally we were done. Oh, i was so ready to get off the bike. I couldn't even walk fast. I trudged through the supermarket and went to their bathroom. I realized that I might be a little low on fuel.
I got back to the coffeeshop, where all the faster riders were, and discovered that they had not all come in yet! SLOW and STEADY got me in before several riders! Although I did not make a public display, I knew my strategies were working. we finished in 5 hours and 29 minutes!

I leave you with these thoughts:
A rider needs to continue to push themself
It is important to know your own limitations. (I would be a fool to think I could ever be the gal who finished first)
Slow and steady might not win the race, but it will leave you with a respectable finish time.

[redrhodie]

Excellent report! 4 down. You're getting there. Is that you at the back, in the Italian flag colors? Love that jersey.

I just commuted yesterday, and did a short ride this morning. 25 mph winds here, too.

[Biciclista]

yes, that's my back end with the Italian colors!

[lauraelmore1033]

Boy, we finished our ride at Magnusun park just as the rain started, so I saw how miserable that must have been. It was terrible driving home in that rain, I can't imagine having to continue riding in it! Hopefully the weather will improve for your next one! You are one strong lady.

[azfiddle]

Way to go! I think you're doing an amazing job with the P12!
And good advice.
Sharon

[Crankin]

The philosophy of the turtle and the hair always wins for me.
Good job, in horrible conditions. I would have been fighting my inner demons to ride through rain like that.

[lph]

Oooh, nice. I recognized your backside right away, Mimi, and I've never even met you!

Great story.

[Biciclista]

LPH!!! LOL!!

hey am I the ONLY one that rode??

[AppleTree]

LPH!!! LOL!!

hey am I the ONLY one that rode??

Oh, no...I was also out in our "on again, off again" convergence zone yesterday. It was sunny when I left the house, 10 minutes later it started raining. I thought...no.... I am desperate to keep riding, I am going to keep on. 15 minutes later the sun came out... 20 minutes later...well, you get the idea. Less then 15 miles, but still got to ride. Today we are doing a 40 mile ride on the Centennial Trail. Need to get some serious miles in before the STP, but our weather has NOT been cooperating one little bit.

I did have a personal best though yesterday. Two flats in one day! The first I noticed when I got home and was washing my bike off. The other after I rode to the bike shop to get it fixed and came home...flat AGAIN. Stupid little stinkin' piece of glass. Just bad luck...they did give me the 2nd tube for free at least. Rats.

Ride on!!

[Catrin]

LPH!!! LOL!!

hey am I the ONLY one that rode??

I rode! In a fashion, that is Winds were high yesterday afternoon but couldn't resist warm temps and sun...winds were FAR too strong for me though - at least in the wind-swept cornfields. As soon as I hit my first cross-wind I knew I was out of my depth and changed my route to get back to my car. Wind even pushed me into the other lane! Almost 30 minutes in the wind, and another 45 in a wind-protected nature preserve park.

You were awesome! I know how good it must have felt to know you weren't the last one in!

[malkin]

Way to go and Hooray for Turtles!

[Biciclista]

I rode! In a fashion, that is Winds were high yesterday afternoon but couldn't resist warm temps and sun...winds were FAR too strong for me though - at least in the wind-swept cornfields. As soon as I hit my first cross-wind I knew I was out of my depth and changed my route to get back to my car. Wind even pushed me into the other lane! Almost 30 minutes in the wind, and another 45 in a wind-protected nature preserve park.

You were awesome! I know how good it must have felt to know you weren't the last one in!

wow, that's scary wind!

[Catrin]

wow, that's scary wind!

I do not know what the wind gusts were yesterday - but they forecast 22mph winds. Today they are forecasting wind gusts of 45 mph There was a male cyclist who passed me who seemed to be suffering far less. However he was bigger/heavier than I so perhaps that helps? I am quite sure that my riding position does work against me in a headwind though, but that is life

My 'pre-church' ride this morning was quite tame in comparison - though I had a lot more clothes on!

[ladyicon]

What a great ride report !!!! I did 20 miles in a headwind with big gusts, it was also cold and cloudy. This was my first ride with my new Specialized carbon pro shoes, and of course new cleats. I am very sore today, I guess new cleats were not adjusted properly.

[azfiddle]

I rode 31.5 miles yesterday with my DH. My daughter drove out to meet me at the farmer's market. My husband is still dealing with the after effects of his car-assisted bike incident and is riding his mountain bike to put less stress on his arm but I'm sure it was too much, too soon Normally, I am the tortoise, and he is the hare- no matter what he's riding- road bike, folding bike, or mountain bike, so I knew that he really had over exerted himself it when I repeatedly dropped him....and waited for him to catch up.

When we rode the 8 mile loop road through Saguaro National Park, we met a group of 30 cyclists from Quebec- they certainly got a warm welcome as it was headed for an unseasonably high temp in the 90's

This morning I just did a solo ride of 19 miles.