Riding for Roses

After two months off the bike and six weeks since I last had a serious non-bike workout, it was pretty obvious that the 70 or 100 mile rides would no be a good plan, so I targeted the 40 mile ride keeping heart rate up just to see if I could. Finished fine, albeit slowly. Average speed of 14.4 MPH was not too surprising given the recent lack of training.

The thing I did get to do is hook up with a number of different riders and talk about their stories.

The first fellow I chatted with had prostate cancer and completed treatment one year ago. Six weeks later he started getting back on the bike a little and was on his way to complete the hundred today when he decided to stop hanging with me and took off.

Talked to couple riding a tandem. The captain finished chemo for cancer (not having a note pad with me on the ride, I don’t recall the name, but it was a broad cancer of unclear origin) 9 months ago. Got on a stationary bike 3 months later and managed one whole minute. When I left them, they were 15 miles into the ride and considering whether they would do the 70.

I hooked up with my friend Christine Kungl for a bit from there to the second rest stop (as always, I skipped the first) at about 20 miles.

In the back half of the ride, I was definitely feeling the lack of training, but joined the tail end of a couple of groups of riders to keep my speed up. Never managed to get to the front of the paceline before they dropped me. I said hello to a father/son duo riding a trail-a-bike and the Dad is a cancer survivor – not sure what type since we separated pretty quickly. I also ran into a mother/daughter pair on single mountain bikes. Mom is a four year breast cancer survivor and the daughter was there to honor her Mom.

The hill I hated in the summer? I still hate it. I managed to not walk. Many riders had to walk it. I still want to go back and do it well. I need to stick with the training plan this year.

After the ride, I took advantage of the free food (thanks, Austin’s Pizza and others) and drink. I also got a twenty minute massage to work the initial kinks out of my cramping thighs.

Got home. Said hi to the family. Took a hot bath. Signed up for the ride next year this morning. Don’t forget to donate to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Ride data:

Course: Ride for the Roses 40 Mile course
Goal: Maintain HR 150-170, be comfortable, talk to people
Start time: 8:23 AM
Duration: 3:12:32.4 (including a 12 minute rest stop)
Distance: 43.1
Ascent: 981
HR avg/max: 166/195
Speed avg/max: 14.4/30.4