Holy freaking hills- Week 44.27-1

I had an organized ride to start out my week and I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. I also forced JD into to the ride as well. He wasn’t happy with me and I will go as far as saying I think that if murder was legal he would have gladly killed me. Even though he wasn’t happy we parted ways at mile 14 so he had 11 miles to go at his leisurely pace and also 4 hours to wait at the bar with drink in had until I finished. He got over his madness pretty quickly.

BTW I want to say this is the first time out on my tri bike and I was a little nervous. I have only been on my bike 2 other times and it was inside on a trainer so I didn’t have to worry about balance. You see I’m not really good at going from the “down” position (where you are on your forearms) to an upright position. I have a bit of PTSD because well I actually hit a bridge that was to my right when I was heading straight because of that position.

I’m sure you are wondering how in the hell someone could even do that. I always find a way to do the impossible! Since you questioned, here is how it happened. I was drinking from my bottle of water with my forearms on the handlebars and when I put the bottle back, I lead with my left hand but instead of holding straight I pushed the handlebars to the right and hit the bridge. Since I was clipped into my pedals, I flipped over my handlebars and face planted onto the concrete. I was riding with JD and my friend Dave. They were white as ghosts at the sight. I basically jumped up like I was on Saturday Night doing the Superstar skit.

Sorry I digress but I think the backstory sort of paints a picture…..maybe?

Back to the ride. I felt GREAT on my new bike. I was strong and fast (on the flat straights). I caught up to my friend Michael really easily and he is a strong rider. He pushed me and it wasn’t hard to keep up. My top speed was 40 mph, yes it was down hill but still that is fucking fast on a damn bike. The first 47 miles were so encouraging. I even went up a small mountain like the worst short hill I had done in years. WOW was I delusional. That was only the first of the fucking shittiness. We left the second to last rest area and man there they were. They weren’t hills…they were god damn mountains! It was the worst 10 miles I have ever done to the point I had to walk up the last really big and super steep mountain. I haven’t had to walk a hill since I started riding road bikes over 4 years ago.

It was awful and it was disheartening. I mean I was pedaling but my bike wasn’t going anywhere and I actually love hills. 😦

  This might not mean anything to any of you but it was my hell for the day. The green are the mountains I climbed and the blue is my speed on those damn mountains. When I got to the last rest stop (oh I will mention that each rest stop along the ride were at a winery which was torture because I couldn’t do tastings or enjoy the venue which was a total bummer) I told Michael that if the next 10 miles were anything like the last I had just done then I was taking the sag back. These words have NEVER come out of my mouth but that is where I was at. He told sag that I would continue and finish strong so I did.

I finished my 68 miles of mountain climbs. I celebrated with a cold cider and pulled pork sandwiches and chips! Oh and I passed out super early and slept so hard. It’s workouts like this that I love. I guess that is why I am on this journey. I love to push my body, mind and patience to the max to test what I can handle. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!!

Only 46 more days until my race and I’m FREAKING OUT!!