The Sun Is Not My Friend

I knew it was going to be a tough ride. The sun was out and the temperature was 85° and rising.

It was also 12:15.

Rides after noon in Iowa – in the summer – are never pleasant. But, with RAGBRAI only 28 days away, I had no choice. Train, or die.

I was actually excited to get back out on the bike after a week off (flat tire – and yes, this time I asked at the bike shop to be shown how to fix my own flat tires) because I was given a new speaker to hook my iPod into (thanks Grandma and Steve for the birthday present) that I wanted to try.

Turns out I should have tested the speakers a bit more before setting off on the ride. The sound was terrible and quiet, and after 9 miles I just shut the whole thing off because it wasn’t doing anything but pissing me off. I’m thinking – hoping – that it was just some near-dead batteries causing the distortion and quietness. I’m going to take some new AA’s out there in a little while and fire it up once more. (*crossing my fingers*)

I decided to ride the one ride I know well that takes me out on the country roads instead of staying on the much busier streets in town. I’ve only ever ridden this entire loop once before. It was last year, with Steve, and it just about killed us – heat, speed, and distance. I remembered it was 25 miles (including some extra diversions), and thought it would be nice to know the loop’s true distance.

So I set off.

Like always, my left knee – and my mind and body in whole – didn’t warm up until I was north of Grimes, about 7 miles into the ride. It wasn’t that I was having difficulty keeping a strong average speed, I just felt tired and weak and whiny.

Warmed up, though, I picked up the pace and flew past the “mile-long” bridge over Saylorville Lake. Heading east, out in the country with few cars swinging around to pass me, I was beginning to enjoy the ride. I could see downtown Des Moines off in the distance, could watch the National Weather Service “soccer” ball tower get closer and closer. It was all good.

With a couple miles of downhill/flat road I was able to pedal easily at 20 mph. I pushed it here to help keep my average from falling too much when I hit those last 3 miles of my ride – the uphill battle to home.

And then, 19 miles in, I hit the wall. In all honesty, I’m glad I made it as far as I did. I haven’t been working out regularly in months so I can’t expect to not find that wall waiting near the end of any workout in the foreseeable future.

Tired, cursing, and breathing heavily, I powered up the hill home. I was sure I’d collapse as soon as I unclipped from the bike, or in the very least, puke, but I managed to contain myself.

I know I need to do more of these rides in the sun to better acclimate myself to the conditions I’ll face on RAGBRAI, but I think I’m going to shoot for a shady, slower ride tomorrow. I’m not Superman, you know.

Not yet.
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Ride Summary: 22.07 miles in 1:24:40 hours, at an average of 15.6 mph; rode the loop from home, north through Grimes, over by Saylorville Lake, south by Camp Dodge to 70th Street and then back west to home; HOT – high 80’s – and sunny and buggy and sunny, with only minimal winds.