Saturday, February 26, 2011

So Close but So Far.....

Today Rozmo and I did a bike ride down in central Georgia that we've done a few times before. I don't get to do it every year because sometimes there is a conflict with the gymnastics schedule. This year Katydid couldn't go, so it was just Rozmo and me.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect day for riding. It was a little chilly at the beginning, but it warmed up to somewhere around 71 degrees by the time it was over. I was able to wear only a short-sleeved jersey and knickers, no jacket or arm warmers, and I was fine. I got a little sunburned on my arms and face (Sweet Girl calls it my "raccoon look" where I get sun around my sunglasses).

At the first rest stop I had averaged 16.5 mph. GET OUT OF HERE! If you read my post from last Saturday, you may remember that I was thrilled with a 14.5 average. I knew the 16.5 wouldn't hold up over the whole ride, but I was hoping for 15 mph. I even used my 11:11 wish on it.

Toward the end of the ride, though, it got windy. It's nearly impossible to combat the wind on a bike. And it's always a headwind, no matter which way you turn. I was also quite tired, because I was riding HARD trying to maintain that average speed. And watching it drop like a rock. At about 6 miles from the end, I changed the display on the bike's GPS so I couldn't see the average anymore. It was making me crazy(er).

As you can see by the graphic below, I almost succeeded. I had a 14.9 average over the whole day, which isn't 15 mph or 16.5, but it's not too shabby for this (almost) 50-year-old.

My knees are sore, along with my sitting-down-place, and I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight. Particularly with the help of some pain PM tablets.

1 comment:

KatyDid53 said...

Oh, I'm so jealous! While I enjoyed the 20 or so minutes of the Allstate Chorus concert, the rest of it was . . . well, you know.