Still Have A little Left
With only about 45 minutes to ride, I decided to do a quick 16 miles on Saturday before heading out to do my errands. Normally, 16 is nothing but it was unusually difficult today for no particular reason. I'd slept well, at a good breakfast and it wasn't anywhere near 80 degrees but I just couldn't push the pedals. I forced myself through the Carnation loop and was looking forward to seeing the house when I was nearly T-boned by a dozen riders doing 20+ on route 202. I thought to myself "Jesus people, look where you're going" and continued on to the house. About 90 seconds later, I did an abrupt u-turn, said "screw it" and attempted to chase the group down. Around two miles into the chase (West up 202 towards Redmond) and with my heart around 192 beats per minute (I rode with my HRM) by body suddenly remembered how fun it was to suffer like that. 22 mph slowly became 26 mph and I was definitely gaining on the group. Of course the last 100 meters seemed like an eternity but I went full bore with the knowledge that once I caught the caboose's wheel, I would rest for a few miles. Once I got on though, the pace of 22-24 actually seemed a bit slow to me. So about a minute later, I went down to 54 x 13, swung to the left and legged it up to the front of the group. On my way up, I liked what I saw and suddenly felt like I was in big trouble. Most of the group was comprised of the all female Subway racing team and about six other guys who were all riding incredibly sweet machines.
The leader gladly let me assume pacing duties and I was surprised with how quickly I had recovered from the chase and the position change (from last to first) but I had at least nine miles to Marymoor Park and this wasn't going to be easy. I settled on 23 mph with RPMs in the 95-105 range (my computer does not record pedal revolutions) and put my mind in tempo mode. I could have just done a mile and drifted back but I hadn't felt like this since February (on the trainer) and I wasn't going to squander it. I heard a few calls "WOO" and "Mr. Machine" which only encouraged me to keep the pacing. Eventually though, my body was going to have enough and I knew that this was definitely a fluke especially given my fitness situation. I didn't have a radio but in my head I was riding tempo to Nine Inch Nails' "Bite the Hand that Feeds" which was just about perfect.
Even though I did slow to about 21 mph towards Marymoor, I actually finished and made sure I looked fresh when I said goodbye to my new friends. I hadn't been showing off to anyone other than myself and I was definitely impressed. The long ride back down 202 to Fall City was a bit brutal though. I didn't have an ounce of energy left in me. Not bad though for a 16 mile ride which turned into 43.
June 28th, 2005 - 11:27
You still ‘got it’ Michael!!! Good for you!!! Can’t believe you were able to achieve that kind of ride without being fully recovered from your recent illness!!
Our party Saturday night was a great success – 75-85 people attended, great food (I will definitely have them cater again) and good entertainment by Jim Merrick – everyone seemed to have a good time. We had not had rain in 6 weeks here, everything so dry – brittle grass etc.; the temp in the 90′s – the weathermen reminding us that it has not been this hot – 90′s – for so many days straight since the week of September 7, 2002 (Remember Nicki & Wally’s Wedding!!). Jay and Wally and Dave (my cousin) & Chris (my nephew) were exhausted and dripping wet after getting the place setup with tables and chairs, roping off parking, erecting signs and all the other details for settting up for the event. It was so weird – party started at 6:00 with 93 degrees, no breeze, lots of humidity. Then at 6:20 this breeze comes through – WOW so sweet, a few rain drops later – threatening dark sky and – viola – the temperature drops by at least 15 degrees – what a blessing!! As much as we need the rain, it held off over us – some nearby areas (Bellbrook etc.) actually had flash floods etc., Kettering and Oakwood had golfball size hail – but we were spared – actually blessed!! However, last night a whole different story – I got home around 7pm and thought a little mini tornado had been through here – our power had been out, we have lots of branches and huge limbs down, one very big sycamore tree came down in our creek – that is gonna take some work to get that cleared out and one of our patio umbrellas ended up over the ravine into the creek. Jay used his ‘handy dandy’ log hook and a long rope and was able to retrieve it!! After we finished this task I came in to fix dinner, more lightening and rain – another power outage, but having a gas cooktop I was able to continue preparing dinner by flashlight and we had a ‘lovely candlelight’ dinner!! Power went out one more time during the night – but only lasted about a half hour until it was restored. Hope we get more rain today – we so need it!! Nance
June 29th, 2005 - 12:07
I’m impressed. I went on a bike ride this past weekend (after about five hours sleep after your Dad’s party): 30 miles on flat straight bike path, and it about killed me. And I’d been working out quite a lot (for me) the past two or three weeks. For me, anyway. 30 miles is the most I’ve ever ridden in one ride, I’m pretty sure. I usually did about 20 in past rides. But my bike hasn’t hit 500 miles in the 3.5 years since I’ve had it, so I’m obviously not an any-class biker.
As Nancy said – the party was great. It was really cool seeing the farm, Menstown, getting a personal tour of the property on the Ranger… I didn’t see any of the snapping turtles, snakes, or deer that Nancy admitted to being scared of…