Sunday, October 12, 2008

Feel the burn!

Last night my buddy talked me into doing a road ride with the Cal Pools team this morning. I was aprehensive because of my lack of riding and recent injuries, but Brian and I have always had a "healthy competitive" relationship and it wasn't hard for him to talk me into it. My knee had hurt pretty good yesterday on my solo flat ride so I made arrangements with the spousal unit pick me up if I had to bail out mid-ride.

The temps this morning were really low, when we started riding I think it was down around 40F. I had selected the right clothing thankfully, but it was still really cold.

My knee held out fine despite the fact that the ride had some pretty crazy hills. According to my Garmin we had a few climbs around the 15% range and a few descents that neared 20%. It was really great riding with new people and seeing some new places. The route was awesome and went through some really great rural roads and even a few orchards. I am glad for the Garmin though, I would never be able to find the route again without having the GPS!

Riding in a pack like that makes me pretty uncomfortable. I think I have decent bike handling skills, but it is unnerving to rely on others to make the right decisions. Twice during the ride people in front hit the brakes without warning and I was okay, but people behind me nearly crashed into me despite the fact that I yelled "Brakes".

Despite my lack of fitness I was able to hang on or near the front which was pretty nice. This isn't to say that there weren't guys in the group that could have dropped me in a heartbeat, but they didn't so that was good!

I returned home expecting Allison to be icing her knee, I come in the house and hear the whirring of the trainer! She had the trainer set up in front of the TV so she could spin while watching football. Crazy girl. There is no stopping her. What an animal. If she stays healthy this winter next year will be very interesting!

1 comment:

Luke said...

good to hear you guys are still gettin at it!!