All I needed was a half century on Saturday to get in my third week of 100+ miles. The weather had been nice all week long. I got out on Monday night - did Coral Creek twice, getting back in after dark. Wednesday was the garage and basketball. Thursday, I did a mini-crit around the neighborhood - 30 minutes of riding a 6/10ths of a mile circuit. I did 12 laps, 4 of them with Craig, Cassie, or Colin riding along. On Friday, I had plans on riding 25. I left work early to be sure to get some sun but the sun turned to rain so I sat in the garage for an hour. My reasoning was if I am going to suffer in the rain, once a week is enough.
My parents stopped in Friday night on their way to Solvang. My dad and I got my bike in the travel case, talked about riding, and did nothing. Saturday morning, they got up and took off, headed towards better weather. They called me yesterday afternoon, saying it was 56 degrees and sunny in NoCal. I can hear the Gin Blossoms singing in the background, "Hey jealousy, jealousy..." I'll be there Friday.
Saturday morning started out rainy but at 9 AM when I got on the bike it was marvelous. The sun was out, it was a warm 45 degreees but in the sun it was much warmer. I headed South and into the rain. By mile 4 I knew it was going to be a painful outing. There was going to be wind in my face all the way till I turned around. Nothing like a cold rain and a cold wind to motivate. At that point that I was contemplating turning back early and sitting in the garage for the balance of the miles, the sun came out and warmed me up so I kept going. I can deal with the wind, the rain is different. The sun only last twenty minutes or so - long enough to begin sweating again and change my mind to stay on the road. I didn't see the sun again for an hour. When it peaked back out, it was on the way back and I am sustaining 21+ MPH and rolling strong back towards Newberg. Getting back to Newberg, I decided to do a lap around the town and then ended up doing a few laps around the neighborhood to get to the half century, back in the rain again. When I stopped, my bike looked like I had been out on the cyclecross track with all the mud and road debris. Cool! While I am cleaning the bike up, here comes the sun again as if to say, good job.
All told for the week, 101 miles of varying fun on the bike. I am ready for Solvang - definitely better prepared than last year. In looking at last year, I rode only 46 miles the week before. This was the most miles ridden in a week leading up to Solvang.
Today I had to recuperate with a three hour nap. With family, work, church, and riding, I was tired. I'll be better this week as I do a couple rides to keep the legs fresh. I am looking forward to the ride - just will be missing JD, especially in the last 20 with all of the hills. I let y'all know how it goes next Sunday night as I blog from SoCal.
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