Recovery Day.....Yeah Right

After yesterdays kick ass ride I was sucking down water all afternoon and evening. I was fatigued all night but this morning I really wasn't sore, I was tired but not sore (got to love Hammer's Recoverite!!!). My plan was to take today off from riding, that thought lasted about 10 minutes and then I thought maybe a short ride to flush my legs.....that just turned out to be an excuse to get out and hammer in the wind.

Molly, Jonas, and I went and hiked some trail early this afternoon, we didn't get all of our section hiked as Jonas was getting a bit tired so we returned home but still had a really good time. On a trail note, the section of trail we walked today looked really good and is drying out nicely. A lot of it would be rideable without leaving a mark, some spots were a touch soft and the low lying areas obviously were still really wet.

After returning home and after the two older kids got home from school I went out to ride the loop. I decided that since I had a long day yesterday I would ride North on A to take advantage of the tailwind and come back on Y to get any protection from trees and hills from the headwind. I have commented on this before and I will say it again, there are rough spots the direction that we usually ride the loop but going the opposite direction is much rougher in my opinion.....it isn't the worst road I have ridden on but it isn't too smooth. I did the whole trek South in my drops and was able to keep a fairly good average along that portion of the route. At the end of the ride I had a 20.1 avg, not too shabby for a solo effort. I had told Emma I would take her for a ride when I got home and she was sitting on her bike with her helmet on when I turned the corner toward the house. We went on a short ride and she had a blast. Her bike is too small and I plan to buy her a new one very soon.....very soon!!!

A Ride In A Vertical Hell

Doug and I went out and rode this morning, the wind out of the South was brutal and had already started when we met up at 8 a.m. We knew it was suppose to be windy but when it was that windy that early we knew it was going to be rough. We were only about 6 or 7 miles in and I was just finishing one of my 18 sec pulls when Doug came around me and said "You know it's bad when there's a feed bag coming down the road at you", I looked up and sure enough there was a empty feed bag tumbling along next to the road. It didn't take too many hills before I was off the back and just trying to survive, this was not a glory ride but an opportunity to either man up or throw up.

The first 32 miles was into the wind and it was torture on my legs, the wind howling past me while riding was almost deafening. When we finally made the turn North and had the wind at our backs it was such a pleasant change, the noise had reduced to almost no noise and we were flying. We did turn back East for a while and had quite a cross wind but that wasn't what was on my mind, I was more focused on the monster hills we were climbing. We finally got to Hwy F and had the wind at our backs again so we were able to carry more speed and roll those hills.

We hit Dawn and then headed back North to Hwy 36 and then headed back to town. I drilled a dirt clod with my rear wheel and pinch flatted, for the second time in a week. I don't think I was so happy to get home, my legs were wiped out and now about 4 hrs later I think my legs are even more fatigued. I kept telling myself during the ride that this ride really sucks right now but during one of my endurance races this year I will be so glad that I did it.

Name Well Deserved

I have been riding for a few years now but I had never been on the "F-ing" road, so Doug and I took a ride South on Friday morning. I had heard of this ride and when I asked Doug on Thursday to take me his eyes lit up and he got that boyish smile and said "Hell Yeah". We started out heading West to Utica and then South to Dawn and then we hit Hwy F. I was being a little stubborn on the ride, I wanted to see if I could do it in my big ring.....let me just say OUCH!!! The first several hills were not bad at all and spaced out well but then they just kept getting closer together and steeper, if you put it on a graph it would look like a woman in labor. The last hill was double the fun as it climbed and slightly peaked and then climbed some more, I was out of the saddle and pushing and pulling with everything I had and I was barely moving.....but I made it. I seriously had to fight off throwing up once I was at the top and then I coasted to the bottom of the hill and the intersection of Hwy C. We turned onto C and what do you know.....another freakin monster hill. There were several more hills on the way back on Hwy C and Hwy Z but I was able to roll them (my legs were screaming). Doug pulled away from me on Hwy C, it took a lot of work (and him stopping at the next intersection to wait for me) but I finally caught him.

Truth be told I was actually the rabbit on this ride, not because I was setting the pace (actually I was slowing the pace). I realized I was the rabbit after I got home because I found little rabbit size droppings in my bibs that I had squeezed out just trying to hold on. Plus after we ripped our legs off Coach kept took one of my feet and attached a key chain to it and stuck it in his pocket. I don't know if it was for good luck or because that was one of the only things on my body that I hadn't shaved.

1 Day + 2 Rides = Big Smiles

Doug and I went out on a road ride this morning, we took Hwy 36 over to Wheeling and then headed North on B to BB. Jumped on KK and then over to K and on into Chula and then took V back to Chillicothe. We took turns pulling and was carrying a pretty good pace but we ended up backing off of it a bit. I had a flat South of Chula but it was a quick fix and then back to the grind. I had a little over 41 miles at the point and was ready to eat something. Molly, Jonas, and I went to El Toro's and I had a 1/2 order of Nacho Supreme (as far as I am concerned there is nothing else on their menu) and it was awesome. We went back home and I rested around the house for a couple hours and then suited back up and went and rode the loop. I was feeling the burn rather quickly but was feeling pretty good, I didn't really push very hard as I didn't want to bonk. Although during the ride I was thinking about how I will need to bonk during a couple training rides this year to help with my overall training, it has paid off in the past. When I got home I was at 65 plus miles for the day and avg 19.3 for those miles (I didn't reset my computer between rides), I know I had some rest in there too but still not too bad. I am feeling the effects of the ride tonight!!!

HOH Roadtrip

Like any cycling event the trip to Fort Sill was very eventful, I think the drive took somewhere between 30 minutes and 9 hours so it wasn't too bad. After what many would call a successful preride and a great nights sleep I was ready for race day. We arrived at the venue and prepped our gear, I knew that this was my day and nobody was going to stop me. I must have just had that look about me because one guy saw that I was there and nudged his buddy and pointed my direction and the buddy threw his helmet on the ground and started to unpin his number from his jersey, I told him there is nothing wrong with second place. I wanted to check out the competition because I knew that there were some bad asses from Chillicothe there with me. First I saw Doug Long but he was putting on his running shoes, he said he wasn't going to race but instead he was going to run a 5K backwards in less than 30 minutes. Next I saw James Shiflett, when we made eye contact I could tell that his nerves were getting the better of him as he knew we would be in a battle in a very short while. Then I saw Denny Albertson, the newest of the Green Hills gang (but you wouldn't know it from his riding), he was taking a piss and leaving a small lake right at the tongue of the trailer behind the van where everyone was needing to get their gear out at. I saw several gouges in his legs from shaving mishaps and knew that he would be catching much more wind in those craters and surely that would slow him down. Then I ran into Cameron Chambers, we stared each other down and you could tell that he was not shaken with me there. He almost seemed upset that I would have the audacity to think that I might even have a chance against him. I knew that this race would come down to bike handling skills and suffering, features that represented both of us well.

Finally we were on the start line and the gun fired to start the race. The large group of riders rolled down the road and I was in the top 5 heading up the long first climb. I was able to move up to 3rd by the time we reached the top and started bombing down the first descent. When we hit the next long climb Cameron and I were able to break away and create a gap that lasted until the end of the race, we battled back and forth the entire day as each of us made risky moves and attacks trying to drop the other. Finally we were at the Kevinator and we both dropped in at high rates of speed, one mistake and we would need someone there to pick up the pieces. We both were able to just skim across and down the rocks and make a clean run, the next steep hill I was able to create a small gap but Cameron was able to bridge it on the downhill. The battle continued all the way through the single track and we were neck and neck when we hit the road. It was an all out sprint to the finish and I was able to pull ahead and beat him by half a bike length, even with the rush of adrenaline from the win my legs could hardly hold me up after the race.

At the awards I received my huge Hills of Hell rock, it was so heavy and I was so tired. As I tried to carry it I had more trouble breathing, it seemed I had less and less oxygen. All of a sudden I was in a different place, turns out I was in the hotel room and Doug was holding a pillow over my face and yelling "I told you to stop snoring!!!". He let up the pillow and I looked next to me and Tim was laying stretched out on the bed eating a York Peppermint Patty saying "Messin' with the Mitch Man". Denny was in the corner jumping up and down on a chair and in a high pitched voice was saying "Housekeeping, you want me to fluff your pillow". I was so shook up that I think I gave a big "SALUTE" right then and there!!!

Let's play Jeopardy!!!

Mitch: I'll take "Things That Dangle" for $500 Alex.

Alex: The answer is "The part of your body that is in severe pain".

Mitch: What is my testicle.

I'll take "Things That Dangle" for $600 Alex.

Alex: The answer is "It last 10 to 12 hours".

Mitch: What is the time span of the pain.

Yep, I had went about 3 weeks with very little pain and then 2 days ago it hit again and holy crap I forgot how much it hurts. Yesterday was good and then back to major pain today. I really hate it with the race this weekend but it will not stop me from riding, especially since it hurts even if I'm not moving.

I know, you never know what your going to read on my blog...right?