Well, I think we kicked off the New Year’s pretty well on Saturday. It was a chilly morning rollout: 29 degrees when I left the house (late). Thanks for waiting for me, guys.
The cold was made tolerable by the conversation and occasional blast of sunshine. I think the temp rose to the low 30s by the time we got out towards Newton and Wellesley.
I put in a few hard efforts to try to keep the blood flowing…. it seemed like my toes would start to freeze up if I got too conversational in the back.
I was impressed with Mover’s ability to handle the fixie in the pack, with the wintry roads. That’s manliness. Seems like a good recipe for Battenkill, formerly know as BKR.
It was great to see Norm, The Storm out there. We had some great fun on those Tuesday night beer rides last summer and it’s good to see he’s not letting any of that fitness leave him for the winter.
Leo was looking to peel off (from the rest of the crew going shorter) around Farm Pond in Dover. Matt followed him and my ego told me I needed to do the same. This turned out to be a pretty epic decision. The total ride time for me ended up at 4:20 for a total of about 72 miles (+/- a few miles -no computer on the xc bike). I barely had enough food and liquid for 2 hours. At the 2.5 hour mark my legs were reminding me how badly I needed some fuel. Leo was accomodating for a quick stop at Dover center for a couple of Gatorades but at that point I was pretty well depleted so the stop was more about getting the body back to normal (and not so much for the upcoming 1.5 hrs)
My legs were really aching up to that point – kind of a fatigue ache – which tricks the mind into thinking that you don’t have the energy to continue. Even after quite a few years of riding long I am still amazed how quickly rehydration and a gel can really help you feel fresh.
Matt and I traded modest pulls (ok, mine were probably more modest than Matt’s) while Leo and his black L-Train bike did the lion’s share at the front. We all agreed that the best way to keep warm and avoid stalling (from bonking) was to get back as quickly as possible. This, too, was an epic decision. for the final 1.5 hours we really hit the gas hard -constant pressure on the pedals, fighting some pretty gusty winds at times, putting in some seriously hard efforts.
I can say that the final 2 hours of that ride were some of the more difficult miles I’ve ever put on a bike. I tested the threshold of bonking, completely exhausted my legs, and kept having to dig deep to keep up with Leo and fight the wind(the wind in his slipstream was still substantial).
It was an epic ride and I hope that these are the types of rides that make the racing circuit that much easier in the spring. Great job to Leo and Matt for digging deep and going long.
-r
2 Responses to “Apparent New Year’s resolution: More Pain”
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brutal!! a pleasure to ride with y’all!
nice work to Joe too!!
Nice report Randall, it was a great ride for sure!