This turned out to be a great weekend to ride the bike....warmer than usual temperatures and very pleasant weather all around. The riding would have been even greater if I was in the shape I was in last September. But I'm not. After essentially six weeks off the bike, I have climbed back onto the saddle to get ready for the upcoming racing season. It won't be easy and it won't be that much fun for a while, but that's the price you pay for taking time off.
Got in 30 miles on Saturday and 49 on Sunday, all at an easy pace, keeping my heartrate below 160 to keep the rides at what is called a "fat-burning" ride. Nothing to burn up the muscles but to use the fat that's collected in me for fuel instead. Saturday's excursion was similar to last week's ride but Sunday was different. Eight of us left Waskom, Texas to go exploring whatever side roads we found in the East Texas countryside and we found a lot of them. Probably about half of the ride was on poorly maintained roads with potholes, plenty of road acne, cracks, gravel...we spent miles bumping and bouncing our way along. I think most of my internal organs have rearranged themselves! There's no doubt that my upper arms, shoulders, and neck will be sore tomorrow. Having been off the bike for so long I have lost being immune to all that stuff and everything in me was feeling all the shocks that were running thru me. My hands and butt will probably hurt some, too. I did put in a hard effort at the end of the ride to catch Terry, who had drifted off the front with a couple of miles to go, and I got the HR up around 183! It'll still be a while before I can do those efforts with a lower heartrate but here's where all that starts. My front tire flatted with 1/2 mile to go so if I had to flat, that was one of the best places to do it! I rolled in, tossed the K2 in the back of the truck, and ate out at a local diner with the rest of the bunch. I want to get in 500 miles before I go riding with the team and before I shave my legs!
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