6:12am, sunny and 27°
Woke up at 5:30am. Checked the weather on my PDA… 27 and sunny. Ugh. If I didn’t ride now, I might not until Sunday, so I faught the aches and climbed out of bed. On the road by 6:12 after layering up with two sets of tights, an undershirt, two long sleeve jerseys, jacket, gloves and 4 heat packs. This kept me warm for nearly the entire ride–only the thumbs hurt briefly and toes started to chill around 1:30 in.
Saw two roadies cross King Rd on Ruggles just ahead of me. Briefly thought of catching them, then decided to stick to my own pace. Ruggles, as John had previously told me, is under construction. Yay! Fresh pavement.
Paused next to a pond on King road and watched some redwing blackbirds hopping from cattail to cattail. Ate a Luna Bar. That felt good like picking a warm penny up off the pavement.
Heading north on West River road, the sun was dazzling off the river blinding me on the right. Heading south on Foltsville road, the dappled sun streaming through the trees like a strobe light and blinded me on the left.
I didn’t start to feel comfortable and strong until the last 15 minutes of the two hours. If this is the pattern to follow for my spring and summer morning rides, then I’m going to be disappointed. I’m sure the cold is a significant factor and these first couple of rides are not typical. Plus I’m sore from last night’s two hour softball practice.
Yeah, softball. A team sport. Very unlike me. I thought I’d try something new. I’d played before in, like, you know, gym class in high school. Seems like decades ago. Oh, wait, it was. So far it’s been fun. Our company team is mostly neophytes with only two or three experienced players. Our first game was a loss and we’ll just leave it at that. We have a lot to learn.
Got back home at about 8:20 with nary a minute to spare in getting ready for work. That shower felt great! I would have liked to soak for 15 in the hot tub but my excessively slow pace precluded that particular luxury.
April 28th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
I don’t envy you those morning rides, but it sounds like you missed the wind I dealt with at lunch time.