Monday, March 13, 2006

Pedal, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

This is what my weekend consisted of….pedaling, eating and sleeping!

After work on Friday I was thinking of going for run, but two things stopped me. 1) I thought about all the biking I was planning on this weekend. 2) I looked at my pile of dirty workout clothes. So Friday night I washed my workout clothes so I wouldn’t smell any worse at the end of my ride on Saturday!!

Saturday consisted of heading out to Brookshire to meet up with the TNT group for our training ride. I chose the long route – 57 miles – and after picture taking and our pep talk about wind (hmm, what am I getting myself into), we headed out. And it was glorious! Tail wind the first 18 miles with an average speed around 20 mph. Then we turned and the crosswind hit. Then we turned again and the head wind hit!! Brutal!! Average speed dropped way down!! But we all kept pedaling and eventually made it back to the parking lot. Yea!! I had finished my longest ride to date in the worst winds to date! Time for nourishment – a guacamole and mozzarella hamburger with onion rings. YUMMY!!

Average speed ended up being around 14.5 mph. I will get better with more training.

After lunch I headed home thinking I would take a shower and do a few errands. Well, that plan was shot as soon as I sat down on the couch and conked out!! I woke up around 8:00 had a light dinner, made some banana bread with nuts and chocolate chips (added too much chocolate), showered then went to bed.

I then woke up on Sunday and repeated the process. I headed over to Debi and Dustin’s and we headed out to Prairie View A&M for the Bluebonnet Express. We arrived in good time (unlike last year when the traffic was horrendous getting off 290). We prepped and made our way to the starting line. It was long, but we slowly got there. I was readying myself by clipping into one of my pedals and promptly lost my balance! Fall number 5! Wonder what the rider who's bike I fell on thought!! Oh well, falls happen.

Back to the ride – we chose the 46 mile route, and if the turn for the 24 mile route had happened later on we might have taken that one instead. The wind seemed worse than the day before! But then we were heading into it from the start. And I was probably still tired from the day before. And there were more hills on this ride than Saturday’s. But I enjoyed this course compared with the Frost Bike 50. The roads were better, there seemed to be less traffic, and I didn’t get one flat! We rode past a lot of farms and I mooed at a few cows – you have to do something for entertainment out there!!

We made two stops on this ride. Stop number one was at the second rest stop. Stop number two was at a Sonic for slushies!! We received razzing from some of the other cyclists, but it was well worth it!

Eventually the finish line arrived. Yea!! I finished and, unlike another rider I saw on the course, I didn’t stop and get off my bike and walk it up a hill once. Before heading back to the car, I chatted with one of my mentees (Richard) for a bit. He did the 60 mile route without any rest stops and passed me at the end!! Not sure if I would ever want to do that, but you never know. I have been known to do some not so intelligent things. And I think I could include this weekend to that list!

I think my average speed for this ride was close to Saturday’s. Like I said, I will get better with more training.

Anyway, back to the car, and time for nourishment. This time it was a Jumbo Jack with fries. I think I have made up for all the hamburgers I haven’t eaten in months!

After getting back to Houston and my car I made the wise decision to do my errands before heading home! Because as soon as I arrived home and sat down on the coach, I was out!

All in all I had a great training weekend. You can’t beat riding in the wind with a few small hills added in for good measure.

6 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Sounds like a great cycling weekend, wind and all! Are you considering the ride in Pearland on Sunday? And how is such a thing as "too much chocolate" possible?

Jill said...

Would love to do the Pearland ride (the t-shirt looks great), but I have two other things going on. First - I have a fundraising event on Sunday (another bake sale at Wally World). Second - I signed up for the Tour de Houston - the 70 mile route!! Hope I make it!!

I was seriously considering the Pearland, but then remembered the fundraiser. Not enough hours in the day or days in a weekend!

Tiggs said...

wow- you're doing way better than I am. I'm not sure I'll be ready f or the MS150- you'll leave me in the dust!

KBGee said...

It sounds like you have an awesome training weekend. Good job. I love hamburgers, but how did you come up with the guacamole and mozzarella combination?

David said...

Seems like your headed for some serious bike racing with all that great training. I'm not much into cycling, but love the guacamole.

Jill said...

Cagey,

It was on the menu and since I LOVE guacamole...