Over Inflated definition #4 of Encarta”s American Dictionary is BLOWN UP – To expand with air or gas
Which exactly what I did yesterday on a 50+ mile solo run out west and back on the road bike. Winds were out of the northeast and skies were overcast with a chance of sprinkles and also a chance of sunshine over the next 3 hours. I rolled out of the Casa de Picco with plenty of food, water, music and tools. Things were feeling really good and loose. I had to jog around a little construction to get on my ‘main’ routes that shoot me north, but once I was there I didn’t know if I should just ride and see where the day takes me or should stick to the normal route out to Muskego and back. Before I realized it I was at the turn to start heading west after about 11 miles in, wind at my back once again and all warmed up now I start feeling really good and figure that maybe I’ll shoot for a PR (No not a Prince Reproduction but rather a Personal Record) on the 50 mile route. So heading west and hitting some good speeds. Drink……………..Drink…………………Drink……………..eat and soaking up the coutry side while pedaling away. I get out just about as far west as I’m going to be going and the ride gets even better when the clouds open and I’m splashed with rays of golden sun. All that I can think of is man no wonder A is for Awesome.
I get to the turn for home with 33 miles in and a pretty much a straight shot of 20 miles to get home. Before this I was trying to really pin it on sections where I thought that it would count. So far I’m roughly 12 minutes ahead of my average time at the turn. While I’m waiting for a traffic light to change green I feel a heavy breeze in my face. I’m still feeling pretty good about things so I start into the ride back east. Most of my westward routes would involve HWY K for a return route. It has nice roadways and shoulders, minimal traffic coming east and you swear that it’s a downhill scorcher once you get past the interstate. After about the first 10 minutes of beating it into a stiff wind I start to hope that things will lighten up soon. They never did. By the time I was 10 miles out I was smoked and new it. It’s amazing how slow the world goes by at 11 mph. Legs felt fine but it was just an overall sense of exhaustion. Nothing left in the tank. Bonksville. I was spinning the hardest gear that I could and my heartrate was only averaging around 120 to 135 beats per minute. I felt like it should have been at least in the 180′s. I ended up stumbling home basically 9 minutes slower than my normal time. I cooled off a bit and then dug myself deep into into a fat PB&J chased with a pint of chocolate milk topped off with an involuntary nap for about an hour. It still took me the better part of the day to shake it off. There were definitely some physiological changes that took place that my body wasn’t at all happy about. Hopefully it’ll stay dry enough to get back out into the dirt later today, I could use it.
