Aaaacckkk!

Okay, tonight's Tuesday Night Worlds was brutal...at least to me. I got to the church a bit after 4:30 this afternoon and saw Jason in the parking lot getting ready to ride, so I hitched along with him for the warmup before the Worlds ride began at 5:30. He could give me the scoop on how the Tour de Louisiane race went down while we rode. Well, I said it would be a "warmup" since I hadn't stretched yet but we hit the road and were already going 22 mph, getting up to 23-24 into a nice strong crosswind. Easy for Jason, a little tougher on an old guy like me. But I was determined to stay with him and converse like nothing was wrong. So we rode side-by-side for 12 miles on the out-and-back to the Crossroads and with the crosswind it felt like we were battling a headwind the entire ride! Sweat was literally pouring out of my helmet when we got back to the parking lot to meet up with everyone else. I could tilt my head forward and watch a steady stream of sweat pour to the concrete!

A storm was off to the east with thunder but it wasn't coming to us. However, the wind picked up as we started south on Ellerbe Road and our pack was being buffeted about the whole way. It was quite a strong breeze, not unlike your normal gale force wind. I rode strong, I thought, and closed a few gaps as well as taking my pulls. Bolt looked like it wasn't fazing him at all. Russ, the overall winner at the TDL last weekend, just sat in while riding his time trial bike, disc wheel and all. All this effort was going to cost me...I'm riding stronger than before but my endurance is still not up to snuff. Anyway, let's just say that after a ton of effort to get to Frierson I finally got dropped but kept up the effort the rest of the ride. I hope I can walk when I get out of bed in the morning! It was just a brutal ride but good for fitness...cranked out 42 miles in all.

Jonnene accompanied Bridget on her Ironman training today, putting in 2.5 hours on the bike, followed by a 20-minute "brick" run. She's a bit knackered tonight, too.

Most of today was painting a second coat on the entertainment shelving unit, a little more work on the dirt pile in the front yard, and the usual errands and jobs around the house. I'm waiting to finish up another helicopter paint scheme from Metro but who knows when that'll be. Their clients are always in a hurry but they take their sweet time in the process.