Sunday, April 22, 2007

Quandary - The Best of Both Worlds.

Art suggested an alternative ride for today(Sunday)that was the perfect solution; we would ride with the slower group but give them a 30 minute head start. Tally ho.....the chase is on.

Art,Paul, Rene and myself started the chase at the Enfield Big Stop for a 70K loop through sections of the province I swear I have never been.Weather conditions were good, road conditions went from smooth blacktop to Spring Classics faux cobbles; crappy, potholed misery. Unfortunately on the return trip we also faced a strong headwind and a continual rise in elevation. No major climbs but steady grade increases. Combined with the lousy pavement it was a tough slog.

Art and Paul, who routinely ride with the elite guys took it easy on the few big climbs and it was on one particular hill where I felt the worse. Other than that climb the legs felt strong all day and actually got better as the ride progressed. We caught the slower group at about the 3/4 mark where Jeanne jumped in with us and Rene stayed back.

The four of us then hunkered down for the last miserable quarter of the ride.At one point Paul went off the front on a downhill section and Art followed suit. As Jeanne caught my wheel she suggested we must be getting close to the end as the boys were upping the speed ante. Off she went with me trailing as we closed the gap and all four of us were hammering across a flat section of road. A look at my computer showed 44KPH when the road suddenly switched to a Nova Scotian version of Paris-Roubaix.

One of my contacts literally shook out of place at the most unfortunate time when I heard this bizarre noise from behind me....seems Paul had some kind of mechanical after hitting a rough patch. We stopped, investigated, found nothing then left. Art and Jeanne were gone sprinting down a fun twisty, albeit rough, downhill when Paul once again had to stop. Nothing found we then limped the last half kilometer back to the cars just in case. No point hammering it in case Paul had some serious bike issue.

At the end of the day Art`s numbers were 69(ish)kms with a 32(ish) average. Mine was a little slower due to the stops in the last couple k`s. Not bad considering the rough pavement and steady headwind for at least half the distance. It was a good ride, my legs feel stiff but happy tonight and it was just what the doctor ordered. If I can get half a dozen more of these in over the next 3 weeks I might actually be able to do the Brooklyn ITT in mid May.

Geo

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear you had a good day, Geo! Sounds like you had some rough road conditions... and that wicked wind :(( But that all just makes you stronger in the end.

I decided it was too nice a day to stay in and I ended up taking a short spin on my bike down to Seaview Park... probably made my cough worse, but I had to get out of the house! I was also confronted with the wicked head wind on my way home.

Adrien

Cari said...

Hey Geo...
just a quick comment in regards to the not being able to get under 200 pounds thing, even though you're working your butt off...have you ever had your iodine level checked? i didn't actually have anyone check it until i saw my nutritionist and it turns out that mine is quite low. normal is 90+, mine is at 48. my nutritionist said that in some cases, a low iodine level can lead to a thyroid condition (Carol), since it influences the thyroid. i know that you also have the low platelets, so it may be something in our family. anyway, all that to say that my nutritionist told me that when a person has low iodine, no matter what they do to shed the pounds, doesn't work. she also told me that around 50% of the population has low iodine and doesn't know it. no idea if it's the case for you, but it wouldn't hurt to check...if it is low, it's just a matter of taking a supplement. i have seen a HUGE differnence in how i feel since taking this supplement...
C.

George said...

Really. Isn`t that interesting? Don`t get me wrong...I`m not a slave to the scale. My issue is the fact I`m doing all the right dietary things and have noticed a difference in my body composition but have not realized a corresponding weight loss. Weird?If not for having to lug 205lbs up hills on the bike I couldn`t care less what I weigh.

Thanks for the tip tho....I`m off to google iodine rich foods.(wink)

Geo