The following Saturday, Ben and I rode the Raven’s Revenge
in Huntsville. I signed us up for what I thought was a 50-mile ride, but when
we arrived we learned it was only 45. We had a good ride with great weather, a
few rolling hills, and some excellent rest stops. 26.2 Miles in, we stopped at
the top of a hill for a snack. We were 2 hours in and I commented to Ben that
some people can run 26.2 miles in that time. Yikes! We pressed on and crossed the finish
line, only to learn we had completed 41 miles rather than 45. I was slightly
disappointed because I wanted the mileage, and tried to convince Ben we needed
to keep going. However, he was smart and led me straight back to the car! We followed that ride with a celebration lunch at Chilis.
That Sunday began daylight savings, which meant I
could start riding after work and not have to worry about it getting dark. And
ride I did! I rode 2-3 times a week after the time change and learned that the
more I kept it up the less I noticed a
sore butt or muscles. The wind did not let up, however, and I continued to
fight it the whole month of March. I
learned that hills are nothing compared to going against the wind.
The first Saturday in April, Ben and I did another training
ride together. This one was north of Austin, a.k.a. HILL COUNTRY. I had failed to
realize the implications of that when I signed us up! We rode 45 miles over
those hills, in that spring Texas wind. A couple of those hills made me really appreciate the training rides I had done in Cameron Park. Ben and I felt mighty accomplished when we
finished that ride, until I realized, “You
know in two weeks we’ll still have 30 miles left to go at this point, and then have
to do it all over again tomorrow.” What an overwhelming prospect!
I continued my training, counting down the days (and
counting up the miles) until the day of the big ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment