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Today I was supposed to ride for 5 hrs, according to the training plan. And normally I ride in the morning but because today was a special service at church, I decided to do this ride in the afternoon. I kept trying to convince myself that it would be ok, that there was nothing wrong with riding in the afternoon, yet it just didn't feel right and I probably should've listened to my gut.
I started the ride about 1:20 and headed west. Kurt and the kids were going to do a group ride on the Poudre River Trail, with their school, so I decided to stop there on the way out (use the bathroom) and see them off.
But by the time I got there, the wind was blowing in gusts and there were huge rain clouds in the west. Not good.
I decided to give it a try. I headed out on O street to Windsor and it felt like I was crawling, the headwind was so bad. The clouds were coming in and a few raindrops fell but no rain yet. I got to Windsor and decided to head north on 257 (west of Windsor Lake). Great, right straight into the wind. I had to drop to my lowest gear just to go one mile.
I could see that the wind was out of the northwest so that when I would turn east, I could just fly and I was right. I turned right and immediately the loud roaring sound I had been listening to for the last half hour was gone and I could actually hear the whizzing sound of my wheels. Whew, I was flying!
As I flew along, there must have been 50 motorcycles that past me. Must be some kind of Harley event somewhere. Sure enough, when I got to Severance, there was a whole herd of them there. I meandered my way through them and kept going east.
Finally, I got to CR 33, our usual road that we take to Pierce. I had to decide then, do I turn back or keep going? At this poing, I knew I had to reschedule the 5 hr ride, it was 3:45 and I was hungry and not feeling particularly energetic. I missed my training partners a lot.
I turned north anyway. I rode along looking at the corn and watching it sway in the wind. It's interesting the things you think about when you're out in the country for hours with nothing to listen to but your bike, the wind, a few cars, and well, that's pretty much it.
I turned around and saw more storm clouds building up and decided to bag the ride. By the time i would get home, it would be 3 hrs, which isn't bad. I did that and it was 3 hrs when I got home. Not the ride I had wanted but not bad either. I'll just have to re-schedule things next weekend so that I get a really long ride in.
The best part of the weekend was the run. I am so glad I ran 16 miles. I don't care what they say about "time in the saddle", I just feel more confident knowing I have lots of long runs under my belt.
I started the ride about 1:20 and headed west. Kurt and the kids were going to do a group ride on the Poudre River Trail, with their school, so I decided to stop there on the way out (use the bathroom) and see them off.
But by the time I got there, the wind was blowing in gusts and there were huge rain clouds in the west. Not good.
I decided to give it a try. I headed out on O street to Windsor and it felt like I was crawling, the headwind was so bad. The clouds were coming in and a few raindrops fell but no rain yet. I got to Windsor and decided to head north on 257 (west of Windsor Lake). Great, right straight into the wind. I had to drop to my lowest gear just to go one mile.
I could see that the wind was out of the northwest so that when I would turn east, I could just fly and I was right. I turned right and immediately the loud roaring sound I had been listening to for the last half hour was gone and I could actually hear the whizzing sound of my wheels. Whew, I was flying!
As I flew along, there must have been 50 motorcycles that past me. Must be some kind of Harley event somewhere. Sure enough, when I got to Severance, there was a whole herd of them there. I meandered my way through them and kept going east.
Finally, I got to CR 33, our usual road that we take to Pierce. I had to decide then, do I turn back or keep going? At this poing, I knew I had to reschedule the 5 hr ride, it was 3:45 and I was hungry and not feeling particularly energetic. I missed my training partners a lot.
I turned north anyway. I rode along looking at the corn and watching it sway in the wind. It's interesting the things you think about when you're out in the country for hours with nothing to listen to but your bike, the wind, a few cars, and well, that's pretty much it.
I turned around and saw more storm clouds building up and decided to bag the ride. By the time i would get home, it would be 3 hrs, which isn't bad. I did that and it was 3 hrs when I got home. Not the ride I had wanted but not bad either. I'll just have to re-schedule things next weekend so that I get a really long ride in.
The best part of the weekend was the run. I am so glad I ran 16 miles. I don't care what they say about "time in the saddle", I just feel more confident knowing I have lots of long runs under my belt.
I stopped to take a few pictures on the ride. Here's one I like - see above.
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