Flèche Countdown: 17 Days

Oh that I wasn’t so backed up at work!  Eleven days without a day off, and a high percentage of those days have been at least 12 hours of work.  The weariness I’m feeling is approaching that which I feel at the end of the Flèche!

But I’m out there riding.

Yesterday, three of us rode.  We kept what I would call a Flèche pace.  It was a pace one could ride all day.  It felt good.  I did set a personal best time (for this year) on one little hill.  Now that felt good.  Thanks Strava, for keeping track.

This morning, three of us showed up at the Rusty Bridge and by the time the ride was a quarter of the way done, we had 9 out.  A couple of young bucks challenged the old pros, and there was soon a group off the front.  I on the other hand, stayed back, rode quickly, but tried not to burn myself out.  The legs just weren’t there.  I knew that going into the ride.

You see, I woke up, got ready, and all the while debated whether or not I would ride this morning.  I sat on the step fully dressed, ready to put my helmet on, and the conversation went something like this:

“Why don’t you just go back to bed?”

“Yeah … and lay awake kicking myself?”

“Look, you are tired.  You’ve been working too many hours.  You need the rest.”

“But the other day I wrote on the blog that riding with fatigue was part of the training.”

“You need to filter what you write.”

“I’m riding.”

“You are riding a 200k solo on Friday.  Do you think it is wise to do that fatigued?”

“I’m making a decision to ride this morning.  Friday is its own day.”

“Stay home.”

“I’m riding.”

Usually, it’s not that hard.

Tomorrow I may rest.  Friday will be a solo 200k over a route that kicked me in the seat of the pants last September.  I think I’m better prepared.  My bike works better than it did in September, and I know where the food will be at the turn around point.  Last September I had potato chips for lunch because I couldn’t locate a place that served food that was open.  I suffered as a result.

This Ride: 19.7 miles
Month: 306.1 miles
2013: 1110.3 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 20,883.2 miles