Some Days Are Harder Than Others

I don’t know what causes it.  It is just one of those things that will likely remain a mystery.  Some mornings on the bike are very hard work, and some are a delight.  This one this morning was hard.

I didn’t ride yesterday.  I talked myself into going back to bed after being up for 15 minutes.  This morning I was determined to get out and ride, in part because yesterday I missed the coolest morning of the week.  Everything went smoothly, and I was out the door a little earlier than usual, so I put in a little extra distance before the Rusty Bridge.  The 8 of us held a pretty reasonable, yet quick pace so that when we got to the choice of doing the Askewton hill or skipping it, I decided to do the hill.  I climbed it in a personal best time, but in doing so, spiked my heart rate and had a hard time recovering on the more gentle hills that follow.  It was here where 6 others gapped me and Bryan took pity on my slow recovery and rode with me.  I struggled the rest of the ride, keeping a quick pace but really riding at the top end of my morning’s ability.  At the end of the trail, Mike C joined us for the rest of the ride.  He had also been dropped by the faster group but managed to stay 100-200 yards ahead of us.

Our return was nice and steady.

Only one “squnny” made his presence known, dashing in front of the two lead riders, but good bike handling skills kept us all upright.

This Ride: 24.4 miles
Month: 330.5 miles
2012: 3,286.2 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 17,139.8 miles