First Serious Long Ride

The Bike Tour is two weeks away! I was anxious last week about whether or not I would be able to do the 100 miles on September 8th. While I had riden over 360 miles thus far the summer, I hadn't ridden longer then 30 miles on any one ride. So, yesterday was the 50-miler. If I could complete that ride, then I would have more optimism about 100 after another week of training.

It was hot on Saturday, although I did get an early start (before 8 am). I didn't break any speed recods (average pace 15.39 miles), but I was able to keep up a good pace most of the morning. I ended up doing 60 miles and was quite pleased.

I saw lots of farm country east of Greenville. I rode through Grimesland, Chocowinity, and Black Jack. I saw mimimal road kill and managed to avoid becoming the same. I was saddened to see what looked like an adolescent fox that had been hit by a car. Near campus I saw a woozy young raccoon that was obviously ill. It had some sort of film on one of its eyes and was moving very slowly and seemed obsessed with sniffing the ground. I approached it to try to get it to go back into the woods and move away from the road. It moved some but wouldn't go back into the woods.

I was very thankful for my Ipod. I was able to finish a BYU devotional, listen to a segment of American Public Radio's Marketplace, and listen to lots of energetic music that kept me going as the morning wore on.

As the ride progressed I also got to experience the pains from long rides that mimic some MS symptoms (twitchy muscles, tingling hands, and fatigue). Carmel and I have talked about these rides provide cyclists an opportunity to empathize with persons with MS.

When I got off the bike yesterday, I considered if I was up to getting back on and doing another 40. No. Will I be able to do so in two weeks? I'm planning on it! I'll ride hard again this coming week and then take it easy the next week and coast into the ride. I'm not near as sore today as I thought I would be. All in all, I'm excited for the ride.