wind-assisted insanity

connect.garmin.com/activity/152589912

oh the things i have done on a bike since meeting Dan M. thing i never thought i'd do. tonight's wind-assisted insanity ranks up near the top of the list of crazy stuff my friend's roped me into.

i was taking a nap this afternoon, trying to recover from getting too little sleep last night, when dan stops by to see if i want to ride up to great bend since the winds are from the south at 35mph or more. his ex-wife is coming for a visit and will be there about the same time as we arrive. it's around 4:00 and the sun's supposed to set at 6:30ish, so we don't have a lot of time. first he says, "let's leave in 45 minutes," so i slowly get ready. a few minutes later he calls back and asks, "can you leave in ten minutes?" i shrugged my shoulders and said, "sure. why not?" that's what you'd say to wind-assisted insanity, right?

so less than fifteen minutes after waking up, i've snarfed down a PBJ and readied myself for a 50-mile speed fest. i was in such a hurry to get prepared that i forgot my cell phone and money. ended up not needing either. whew!

when dan and i rolled out of my driveway, he said, "i'll be happy if we can make it in an hour and fifty." he lied! he wanted to go much faster! i just shook my head when he kept pushing the speed up higher and higher. even before we made it out of town we were flying along and near 25mph.

we climbed the little rise on the way out of town at around 28mph. i was breathing hard. dan was not. he assured me that there weren't many more hills. that, at least, was the truth. the biggest hill was at about the halfway point riding up and over the railroad overpass in st. john. i dropped down to 26mph on that. i just smiled and rode past dan who had "hammered" on ahead and waited for me there. before that i hit just over 40mph on the flats. the wind was awesome!

about 35 miles into the ride, my energy dropped considerably. dan was still "hammering" out and waiting for me once in awhile. i never took a break. i sucked in a gel and then ate a mini clif bar. that helped a bit, but i still couldn't keep up with my friend.

around 40 miles, dan had mercy on me and rode the rest of the way into town with me. my average had dropped from 30.6mph down to 29.8mph by that time. i'd done all i could to keep it over 30mph, but it wasn't in my legs. grrrrr!

dan and i talked the rest of the way in to the gas station. mostly dan talked and i tried to continue breathing regularly. i succeeded, i guess. i didn't die! we hit 50 miles just as we pulled up to the intersection across from the gas station where we were to meet dan's ex. five minutes later or maybe seven, she showed up. we loaded our bikes in the back and drove back. it was nice to sit on something comfortable for an hour. hope i can walk in the morning. (50.25 miles @ 29.3mph)