Easy “Recovery” Ride

(In honor of the Tour de France this month’s distances are in kilometers)

This Ride: 25.86 km
Kona Distance: 3,120.04 km
Month to date: 242.69 km
2010 Total: 3,870.79km
Pace to 8,456.78 km mile goal in 2010: +71.29 km

Terrible Tuesday wasn’t for me this morning.  Yesterday’s “Sweet Sue” ride was conducted on just 2.5 hours of sleep the night before and I took advantage of every minute of sleep I could this morning.  I planned an easy ride for the day, early in the day.  The forecast has highs of 100 for the next couple of days.

Early into the ride I decided on a maximum heart rate of 130, so that’s where I focused.  It was a nice ride.  Versus TV right now is running a commercial where Indy car drivers are talking about getting heart rates of up to 170 while they are sitting down.  I witnessed adrenaline having that effect on me at the one place where my heart rate spiked.

The B&A Trail is not only the spandex highway in these parts, but it is also a social place.  A cruiser bike rider had stopped to talk to two of her girlfriends who had been walking.  Their social group required the entire width of the trail.  I called out early.  No response.  I called out again.  Nothing.  Then just as I began to call out, “Stay where you are” (so I could negotiate around them), they moved, scattering directly into my path on the grassy side of the trail.  Luckily I had chosen the biker side, she was slower having to also move the bike, and I had slowed enough that I missed them.  Does it really take much to move to the side of the path for even a short conversation?  Although I had been slowing, my heart rate spiked to around 135 and it took longer than usual for it to come back down.

This day was a little less than I need as a daily ride to make my end of year goal.  I’ll have to keep that in mind.  Riding and losing ground seems worse than not riding at all.