Friday, April 1, 2011

Wet Weather Road Rides...

I saddled up on the road bike yesterday.  Considering the way I've been feeling this week about riding, I'm surprised I did it.  But once I got on the bike, I felt great!  The roads couldn't have been any wetter.  In a lot of places, there was standing water.  The temperatures weren't very cooperative either.  Temps were hovering in the high 40's for most of the ride.  I left my place with no particular destination for the ride and planned on keeping the pace pretty chill.  On the way out, I had a nice tailwind that helped to build my ride motivation a bit more.  About 6 miles into the ride, I decided I wanted to hit a little climb to stretch my legs and expand my lungs just a little bit so I headed towards Whitus Road.  The climb isn't much but for around here, it is one of the more extended pulls.  I felt pretty solid at this point in the ride and decided to put a little effort into it.  I finished the short ride with another 26 miles under my belt.  I was able to pull off a 21.8 mph average which made my happy considering my returning headwind.  After it was all said and done, I was happy to have gone for a ride.  You know, you have to do these kind of rides sometimes.  It just makes you that much stronger when you face these kind of conditions in a race.  
This is my happy face.
Looking towards the climb up Whitus Road
Road before the climb up Whitus
As for today, I'll commute into class on the bike but will lay low and get some rest otherwise.  Hell of the South is tomorrow morning.  I've got a lot to get done between now and then.  The bike is a mess from yesterday's ride, I need to switch out wheelsets and cassette, swap over tires, tune up my rig and get my race bag ready.  At least I didn't procrastinate on registration this year and miss the early reg discount!  Anyhow, I'll probably post up a race re-cap sometime later in the weekend or on Monday morning.

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