Saturday ride
Wow -- it's been a long time since I last did a Saturday ride with the team. We did ride on Sunday morning (the eve of Yom Kippur) and it was pretty much the same as today's ride, but this was a Saturday ride. I love Saturday rides. It felt great to be back.
It was a pretty short ride -- just over 40 km. It was the exact same route we did on Sunday and I guess I should get used to it, because we'll be doing this exact same route a few more times in preparation for Eilat. There was a pretty good head wind on the way out, which was kind of lucky for me, as this is the type of wind that I will face in Eilat and since I won't be going to training camp this year (it's tomorrow through Tuesday and it's too expensive and falls at a bad time for me), I didn't think I'd be getting any good practice into the wind. The tail wind coming back the other way was nice, of course, but what I really like about a tail wind, even more than the fact that I don't have to work so hard, is the quiet. All that noise (the noise of wind in my ears) is suddenly gone. It's so peaceful.
After riding about 35 km or so, there was a short run. Ok, it wasn't supposed to be that short, but it was for me. It was a 1.75 km run that we were supposed to repeat three times. On Sunday, I couldn't even run this trail once -- my legs just wouldn't cooperate. I ran it once today and then stopped because nature was calling (ah, yes, the challenge of answering nature's call while out in nature...). Then I went back and did another km or so (coach said that was about what I had time to do). I'm still not completely back in shape, so bricks are still pretty hard for me (actually, bricks are always hard for me, but now they're harder). I picture myself running like a deer, but then reality hits and I end up running more like an elephant. But I'm running and every time it gets just a little bit easier.
Anyway, it was a pretty good ride/run. I got in quite a bit of time on the aerobar -- the longest I've stayed down the aerobar so far -- and I even managed to stay down while picking up some speed. I did lose my balance once and swerve to the right followed by a big swerve to the left, but for some reason, this seemed to give me more confidence -- like I suddenly knew that if I lost my balance, I wasn't going to die. One day I will feel completely safe and confident on the bike, but just like everything else, it will happen little by little. Today, as I was fishing around in my pocket for a gel and then ended up pulling out both a gel and a granola bar and had to hold the gel in my teeth as I put the granola bar back, I suddenly remembered how once I was too scared to take my hand off the handlebars to reach for my bottle. I find that rather amusing now. One day, I will be amused that I was once scared to ride on the aerobar.
So my legs are kinda achy and tired. Boy have I missed that feeling!
It was a pretty short ride -- just over 40 km. It was the exact same route we did on Sunday and I guess I should get used to it, because we'll be doing this exact same route a few more times in preparation for Eilat. There was a pretty good head wind on the way out, which was kind of lucky for me, as this is the type of wind that I will face in Eilat and since I won't be going to training camp this year (it's tomorrow through Tuesday and it's too expensive and falls at a bad time for me), I didn't think I'd be getting any good practice into the wind. The tail wind coming back the other way was nice, of course, but what I really like about a tail wind, even more than the fact that I don't have to work so hard, is the quiet. All that noise (the noise of wind in my ears) is suddenly gone. It's so peaceful.
After riding about 35 km or so, there was a short run. Ok, it wasn't supposed to be that short, but it was for me. It was a 1.75 km run that we were supposed to repeat three times. On Sunday, I couldn't even run this trail once -- my legs just wouldn't cooperate. I ran it once today and then stopped because nature was calling (ah, yes, the challenge of answering nature's call while out in nature...). Then I went back and did another km or so (coach said that was about what I had time to do). I'm still not completely back in shape, so bricks are still pretty hard for me (actually, bricks are always hard for me, but now they're harder). I picture myself running like a deer, but then reality hits and I end up running more like an elephant. But I'm running and every time it gets just a little bit easier.
Anyway, it was a pretty good ride/run. I got in quite a bit of time on the aerobar -- the longest I've stayed down the aerobar so far -- and I even managed to stay down while picking up some speed. I did lose my balance once and swerve to the right followed by a big swerve to the left, but for some reason, this seemed to give me more confidence -- like I suddenly knew that if I lost my balance, I wasn't going to die. One day I will feel completely safe and confident on the bike, but just like everything else, it will happen little by little. Today, as I was fishing around in my pocket for a gel and then ended up pulling out both a gel and a granola bar and had to hold the gel in my teeth as I put the granola bar back, I suddenly remembered how once I was too scared to take my hand off the handlebars to reach for my bottle. I find that rather amusing now. One day, I will be amused that I was once scared to ride on the aerobar.
So my legs are kinda achy and tired. Boy have I missed that feeling!
posted by bari | 18:25
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