What a nice start to the day

This Ride: 20.1 miles
Kona Distance: 3,013.8 miles <– (Now the bike has over 3,000 miles on it!)
Month to date: 674.9 miles <– (New monthly personal distance record)
2010 Total: 3,480.3 miles
Pace to 5,254.8 mile goal in 2010: (192 miles ahead of goal pace)

Last night I received an email from Mike B asking about my usual morning ride and whether or not he could join me. A riding buddy is always welcome! We made plans, and I set out at 5:30 a.m. to meet him in the dark on the trail. We had a good ride to the Naval Academy Bridge. Plenty of good conversation and a reasonable pace.

On the way back, we encountered another rider ahead, and it took us a good mile to catch him.  It was Clif who had waved the Wicked Wednesday group on ahead.  He said he just hasn’t had much energy or strength in his legs since the epic 1000 k ride around Lake Ontario in early July.  At Glen Oban, we encountered Bryan, who had dropped his water bottle, got dropped by Wicked Wednesday, and decided to wait for Clif.  That made 4 on the return trip, a group of guys that is always fun to ride with.  Bryan rode a 40 k time trial on Sunday and said he averaged 22.5 mph!  Soon, Mike was dropped off on his way home.  I’ll ride with him again tomorrow morning.  Bryan set the pace and I tried to keep up on the short leg into Severna Park.

Conversation turned to massage and how to find a good masseuse who knows something about getting the knots out of cyclist’s legs.

This was a nice change from solo early morning rides.

I think I’ve discovered something about blood donation and riding.  I fully expected some performance reduction because of donating blood, but what was unexpected … and I think is related … is that my circulatory system is not as efficient at getting the lactic acid out of my muscles.  If that is truly a consequence, then it explains some leg soreness and stiffness and the need to attend more to a good cool-down routine.  I’ll have to do a little more digging about that.