It was blustery outside with a small chance of some rain,
but the sun was out and I made the decision: Ride. I rode 51 miles the day
before, but the forecasts were for several days of intermittent rain, so it was
hit the trail while there’s still a rain-free riding window. Bang! The Doppler
map on my phone showed a heavy green blob of rain coming into the region, but
it looked clear after that.
I texted my riding buddy Vinnie to see if he was up for a ride,
with possibly some rain thrown in. It was his day off too. It didn’t take him long
to get on board. He’d been planning to go to the gym to work out. Not even
close!
We met up and took off with a 15-20 mph tailwind that immediately
helped boost our pace. Amazing, that little extra pop you have in your pedals
when there’s some wind pushing you along! It wasn’t a total tailwind, more like
a semi-crosswind hitting us diagonally from behind. So depending on the curves
in the trail there was some tailwind, some crosswinds and even some spots of
headwinds. But we finished the first 14.5 miles in 47:48, or an 18.1 mph
average. The second 8.8-mile section has about 1,000 feet of intermittent
climbing. This is where I usually bog down a bit after banging hard on the
relatively flat, long section just before.
It started raining on us a bit, and I called out to Vinnie,
“It’s just a cell, it’s gonna blow through.”
After continuing to ride in the rain, he couldn’t help but
laugh as he yelled, “It’s just a cell, it’ll be sunny in no time.”
But the rain went away as we pedaled on and the sun did peek
in and out from the clouds as the wind continued to push us.
At the turnaround point, we got out of the strong south
winds – had to be 15-20 mph -- in the shelter of a closed snack bar. The temp
wasn’t bad, in the mid 50s, but it was easy to get cold as we ate some snacks
and shot the bull. As we took off back down the trail, I knew we would face a
nasty headwind for the next 25 miles or so.
There’s a mile-long section of trail along a lake and at the
foot of some steep cliffs where there’s almost always stiff wind out of the
north or south. Since this part of the trial goes directly north-south, you get
hammered by a strong headwind either way, almost every time. This time we
headed into it going south. This is where – if I have the energy – I try to see
how long I can sustain 18-20 mph going straight into a headwind. Doing that for
a mile, man, it’s brutal. This time I maintained a 20 mph pace for the whole
stretch, but I was pretty much toast when it ended and I hit a gradual uphill
pitch. Vinnie caught up and said something to me, and I couldn’t even answer --
I was still in oxygen recovery mode. The
rest of the ride continued into tough headwinds and we got a bit more rain too.
“ Just a cell!” Vinnie called out, laughing again.
I tell you, when you’re riding in the rain, and all you see
are black, water heavy clouds ahead, it feels like you’re doomed to be doused for
the rest of the ride. You start saying to yourself, “Why TF am I doing this?”
But lo and behold, the skies parted in surprisingly short
order, and we even finished the ride in the sunshine. Vinnie had a lot more leg
power than I did on the last 14.5-mile section. The ride the day before, plus
my all out against the headwinds on the cliff section pretty much burned all my
matches. I was punchless against the headwind rounding out the ride at a
molasses-like average pace of 15 mph. I was just glad to get the eff back home
in one piece!
Well, as I look outside now, it’s raining as predicted, with
no end in sight for the next several days. Glad I rode when I could. It might
be awhile before the next chance to pedal.
After the ride we
hosed the mud and sand off the bikes, had a few beers and watched some Jackass
classics. Talk about shooting some bull, check this one out:
Looks like the bull won!
Til next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you
get on the bike. Then, keep the rubber side down, ride safely, and don’t
forget: Have a blast.
-- Mark Eric Larson
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