We met at Sarah's house (Kevin, Brenda, Todd, and I) and Sarah's husband, John, came along too.
My plan called for 3-4 hrs and Sarah's called for 2-3 hrs with a 30 min run. I was feeling really good and was very much looking forward to riding 4 hrs.
I had texted Todd on Sat to see if he would pace me the last hour, after dropping off Sarah and Brenda, since they were only going 3 hrs. I wanted to try riding 30 -60 mins at 18+ mph. He said he would so that was the plan.
We went south to Johnstown and out to the frontage road. John flatted so we waited while Kevin fixed it. John has been flatting a lot lately so he was really frustrated. Sarah told us to go on but Todd wanted to stay back with John and since Todd and I were going to ride longer, I needed to stay with Todd. But I didn't mind, I wasn't in any hurry.
It was a beautiful day. The temp was cool enough in the beginning to wear leg warmers and gloves but it warmed up nicely. As we rode along, I realized that I didn't really want to do a fast-paced hour later on, that the slower pace was just fine. That is, except for the frontage road where it's impossible for me to go slow there - I love flying along that stretch of road!
We stopped at the Trek store but it was closed so Todd changed out John's tube again, it was slowly going flat again. Sarah decided that it was best for them to go back and that they would take Centerra to Crossroads to 257, instead of highway 34, which would've been faster but more dangerous (no one likes to ride on 34!).
So we headed up that way and as we rode east on Crossroads Blvd, I realized that I did not want to ride all the way back to Sarah's house and then go out again. I love riding in the Windsor area and just wanted to stay out that way. Todd had gone way ahead of me so I told Kevin to tell him that I was going to go on my own, that he didn't have to pace me for that extra hour. I knew that Sarah and Brenda might wonder why I peeled off by myself but I decided to go anyway. It was OK. I ride by myself often enough that going off on my own was no big deal.
So I turned north and circle around west of Windsor and then north to the road that is part of the Wild on Windsor course (can't remember the name of that road). I really love riding out there. I was hoping that Todd wouldn't think that I was mad at him for riding on ahead - I just didn't want to ride all the way back to Greeley and then back out again. The same is true for running - no one likes to go back to the starting point and then back out again - ugh.
I really enjoyed this ride. I rode at a comfortable pace and noticed it was easy to stay at 18 mph. Occasionally I would get up to 20 or 22 but mostly right around 18. I'm really happy about that!
I rode along and just let my mind wander. The mountains were just beautiful; they had a light dusting of snow and looked dark purple against the grey clouds hovering over them. A few months ago I would've never considered breaking off from the group like that or I would've felt lonely if I had, but on this day I just absorbed the warm sunshine and beautiful scenery. Sometimes I think my bike is my best friend!
But all good things must come to an end and the peaceful, easy feeling I was having went down the drain when I head the familiar thump, thump, thump sound. Crap, I have a flat! And guess what? I've never changed a flat all by myself before!
Of course, it happened to be my back tire. And the dark storm clouds in the west were heading my way. I rode to a safe place to get off and flipped my bike over so that I could figure out how to get the back tire off. Working quickly, I finally figured out how to do it (although it took awhile and my hands were totally black with bike grease!).
I got the tube out and the new one in. But I had trouble with the CO2 cartridge and heard the air leave the tube after I filled it. Crap again! What am i going to do? I called Kurt and he talked me through some of it. I was really getting worried about the weather and wanted to get going ASAP. I didn't want him to have to come get me but when I couldn't get any more air out of the C02 cartridge, I had to call him back to come get me. Rats.
While I waited for him, I decided to try it again. This time I pulled down on the handle further and wa - la, the tube filled with air! Yay! Now, to get the tire back on... I wasn't sure if I had the derailer on right and the clouds were getting close and closer (and they didn't look good). I decided to not call Kurt back because I still might want him to come get me. I wasn't convinced that I had done everything right and I might not be able to ride after all.
I flipped the bike back over and climbed on. So far, so good. I rode a mile or two and got off to check the tire. It was good - yay! By then, the wind was really blowing and it was getting colder. Kurt finally reached me and pulled over. He checked my work and everything looked good so I told him I wanted to finish the ride. Poor guy - he was at the hospital and had to get someone to cover for him to come get me, only to find that I had fixed the tire and was doing fine!
But just as he left me, the wind started to really blow! It was blowing so hard that I almost fell off my bike. Kurt was long gone so I was on my own. I didn't have too far to go but when you're on a bike with a tire that is only 3/4 full and gale force winds blowing you all over the road, it can seem like forever to get back into town!
I finally made it back to Sarah's house. 57 miles - not too shabby! Despite the flat, I'm still glad I did the extra miles on my own. It was a lovely ride and one that I won't forget.
Now it's really time to taper. It's Tuesday as I write this and although I wasn't sore by any means on Monday, I was very tired so I did not run or ride today. I did master's swim yesterday but that's all. Tomorrow I'll probably try a short run or indoor ride in addition to master's swim...we'll see. But for now, it's taper time!
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