Wow… It’s been over a year since I last “put pen to paper” and wrote in this silly little blog thingy (yes, that’s an engineering term…)
Well, a lot has happened since the last update back on October 10th of 2010. I’ve moved to a new house, left my old riding buddies (Lawrence Bike Club), and done countless other things that kept me away from riding. But, as the title of this message states. I’m back! Hopefully writing in this will keep me inspired, and motivated.
Before continuing though, I’d like to thank a few people. Reading your periodic updates, really keeps me motivated. One, Amanda Springer. You’re awesome. Keep training hard, and more selfishly for myself, keep posting about it. Next, Brian Hardee. I love reading about your riding progress. It makes me really want to get out there and burn up some miles myself.
Now, on to today’s topic. What’s it like to get back on the bike after taking more than a year off. (Sure, there were a few rides here and there last year, but nothing that I’d call frequent enough to count.) Well, truth be told, it’ kinda stunk; yet was also pretty nice. Let me explain.
About a month ago, I figured I’d go back the the gym and start a spin class. Those are always a great way to get into shape quickly. Well, turned out that I had to have some work done on the back, and could only afford to do one or the other. I chose the back. BUT, I didn’t want to quit the idea of the spinning, so I started to spin on my own. Was going good, but work got in the way, and it’s pretty hard to push when it’s just yourself. So, that was spotty. Enter nice January weather. Some of the guys at work decided it was nice enough to ride, and asked me if I wanted to startup the lunchtime rides again. Of course I said SURE!!!!
First problem with this. I took the rack off my car expecting a winter that wouldn’t involve riding. Oh well, I can cram the bike in the back seat. So, I did. Managed to get it to work without any problems. Err, next problem. I hadn’t done a tuneup on the bike since before the Octogenta (100 mile ride with Keith, and the last update to the blog.) It needed a little work, but I figured I’d ride it anyway.
Now, the guy that convinced me to bring my bike in, failed to bring his in. There were a couple of others that did, but they’ve been riding/training all last summer and most of the winter to date. Oh well, how bad could it be. OUCH!!! That’s how bad!
The ride started out pretty normal, getting used to the balance of things, and trying to remember how to operate the bike’s computer. Then we hit the first hill… Now before the ride, I had noticed a slight headache coming on. I figured it would go away once I got out into the nice clean air. WRONG. BAMM!!!! FULL ON NUKE invasion in my head. The left side of my head was pounding and making my vision swim. That sucked! Needless to say, I turned off the jets and let the others ride on out front. After clearing the top of the hill, I began to feel a little better. I figured I’d go ahead and catch up and try to stay in the slipstream. That worked up until the next hill. BOOM BOOM BOOM… There goes my heart rate, and that stinking war in my head again. I knew this wasn’t going to be a fun ride.
I figured that there was no way I was going to be any good, so again, I turned off the jets. LONG downhill run ended at a stop light that I missed. (Meaning everyone else got it while it was green, I hit it at red.) Hmmm… Should I try to catch them? It’s all pretty flat for the next 3 miles or so. OK. I go to hammering again. BUT AGAIN, my stinking head was a pounding… At that point I said screw it and just hung back… Now I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it back up the big hill. Not to bore you with the details of the remainder of the ride, but I can say there was point when I started thinking it was time to just sell it and be done with it.
FAST FORWARD 24 Hours…
During the night, I found out that a good friend of mine found out he’s got pancreatic cancer, and may not live much longer. The outlook is pretty poor at this point. That got me thinking about how I used to dedicate all my rides. Needless to say. Jeff, this rides for you!
Today, my headache was completely gone. SO, I decided I’d push where I couldn’t yesterday. MAN what a difference. Yes, my legs were tired, but without the pounding in my head it was much better. Every time I started to slack off, I’d think of my friend and push the pedals just a little harder (or faster depending where I was.) So, total for today. 14 miles. I can safely say, today’s ride was as good, as yesterdays ride was bad.
No longer are there thoughts of quitting the cycling scene, but instead thoughts of the next ride are already filling my head.