One Tough Ride

Rode from Baldwin City to Lawrence with a 20 mph tailwind. Awesome.
2 hours later...
Rode from Lawrence to Baldwin City with a 25 mph headwind. Draining.

My entire day was about the same. I rode because I couldn't find my keys, I looked for the better part of the morning and finally gave up. Then it was time to eat breakfast. My plan, prior to losing my keys was to run to the store really quick in the morning and grab some milk and cereal for breakfast. Since I couldn't do that I was rather limited on my breakfast choices. Thankfully, we had just enough ingredients to make a really big pancake. Just as it finished I started to slide the beautiful golden brown pancake onto my plate. Somehow, I bumped my plate and just as the pancake hit it, they both fell to the floor and the plate shattered into millions of pieces all over my breakfast. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. So, I ate a protein bar instead. I just gave up.

So, the rest of the morning I sat and edited photos and updated our blog. I got a lot accomplished and then finally around 2 had to get ready to ride in to Lawrence.

I hadn't ridden in a few months, unfortunately. So, I was a bit out of riding condition. The wind helped though. I felt like I'd been training for over a year. I was cruising at 35 on the flats and hit 51 down a hill. It was, as I stated earlier... AWESOME!

The ride home was another story entirely. A windy day in a car is kind of difficult. You get bounced around the road a little bit, but overall it's not really too bad. On a bike however, it makes all the difference in the world. The 25mph headwind I was facing was like constantly riding up a mountain. I've ridden up a lot of mountains, and I'd much rather do that, than face this unbeatable wind. By the time I got to the final hill before home, I was absolutely drained. Have you ever been so fatigued that your vision starts to flash? (it's like when your driving and the sun keeps flashing through the trees like strobe). I was already experiencing this prior to the preliminary small hill before the big guy. I made it up and was spent. I kept going though and started up the last hill. "You're never going to make it, you barely made it up the little one. You were only going 13 and that's normal for this one. You're going to have to walk. Oh my legs hurt so bad. Stop. Just stop thinking about it. Don't think. Just pedal. Keep the pedals turning. Ignore the pain. Just don't think." One foot over the other, turning, turning, cramping. I had to stand. My speed dropped dramitcally, but I didn't look. You can't otherwise it will kill you. At that point, on such a busy road, with no where to pull off, and no shoulder, there's no choice. You just have to make it to the top, or seriously impede traffic and risk getting hit. Finally, I made it. Vision still flashing and beginning to get dark around the edges and barely able to stand. I made it to the top and coasted home and collapsed on the floor. Liam was there and gave me a big hug :-) It was one epic ride.