Week one was a huge miles dump on the legs. And I knew that on the 18th I was going to finally do a complete coast to coast 200 mile weekend, so I chose to take it easy during this week and only did two rides.
The rides were not hard, in fact, every ride was simply gorgeous.
I spent that first 32 miles or so home pondering the beauty of a route.
A beautiful route is sometimes hard.
It sometimes climbs.
It sometimes descends.
It sometimes is easy.
It has fantastic views.
And terribly boring sections.
A good route gives you a chance to notice something new and different every time you venture on it.
A good route is like a fine wine, a good poem, a great movie or a good book.
A good route is chock ful of personality and an ever present opportunity to have an adventure everytime you venture upon it.
Took me three hours to get home, I still felt slow, but it was a great day to be on the bike regardless.
That evening I had picked up some stuff Rob had dropped at the job. In one of the bike bags I found a pair of Knicker Pearl Izumi bibs. That next morning, since I knew there would be a chill in the air, I decided to wear the bibs. And its amazing what I learned that day.
The morning was not cold enough that I even needed gloves. But cold enough that I put on my wool base layers and arm warmers. But not so cold that I could keep my jersey zipped, so I rode with it wide open so it would flap in the wind like a cape.
I was amazed at how thick the Fog was. I could barely see 100 feet in front of me and I was on a bicycle. But I was impressed, that since my knees were warm, the blood was circulating better and I was riding faster. In fact I beat my best time for the 32 miles that I have ever had and made it to work in 2 hours and 10 minutes, nearly 50 minutes faster than the evening before. I love how after all this riding and training and prepping I still learn new things.
Beautiful pair of rides. What can I say, bike riding is often magical.
Take Care,
Laters,
The NaKeD InDiaN
2 comments:
I sent you an email. Do you want to do a ride with me from Idaho to Arizona in May? It would be a good shake down for the Divide? 6 days. No hard roads.
forgot to tell you i didn't wash those bib shorts......... :)
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