Back On

After last weekend of dealing with mother nature's curve ball and being down with some sort of funk the weekend before that, I had a plan for the beautiful weekend...RIDE LOTS. Slapped a big gear on the ss and went to Stewart on Saturday. I was worried I wouldn't be able to push a big gear for long because I've been spinning so much as of late. As soon as I got on my ss it was like meeting up with an a really great old friend again. We picked up right where we left off. Besties again. For the first time in a while I found my smile and my rhythm. I was laughing, smiling, singing horribly off key and enjoying the ride. Oh, yeah. And I worked my ass off. That felt pretty damn good, too. It's been a month or so of lackluster rides at best. I needed this ride.

Still smirking at 4+ hours.

Sunday, I was pretty sure I would be paying the price for Saturday. While doing laundry I bent over to pick up a sock that had absconded from the dryer and my hammies and lower back confirmed this hypothesis. Ouch. Mike wanted me to ride with him. I hesitantly agreed and secretly just wanted to do a recovery spin. Between forks and wheels being out of commission I don't have a geared bike right now. The fact that I would be on a ss and Mike on an Epic was ass backwards to me. We rode down to Jungle and I did my best to stay on his wheel. The easy ride thing was quickly thrown out the window.

Bamboo snack

So we didn't change my gearing. It was great on the road to Jungle (which is mostly downhill) but it was frustrating as hell in the park. Jungle is way too twisty for big gears. I had a minor meltdown on Animal Chute. Walking something you normally ride was no fun. I sucked it up and did the best I could. It was a lot of work and my legs and arms were not happy. Then I realized I had to make it home. I still had a road ride home that included climbing the Warwick Turnpike. Ooof. The fact that we moved to the top of a mountain makes me upset sometimes. Nothing like being gassed and having to make it home on a big gear. Builds character, I guess.

We'll see how I recover this week. Right now leaning towards the 6 hour in two weeks. However, if it's raining/snowing/sleeting or anything other than a beautiful, crisp fall day I'm out. It's not worth doing that to my body. It's also my birthday weekend so I feel like I shouldn't subject myself to misery or risk hypothermia on my birthday weekend. The bike and I are in a good place right now. Don't wanna ruin it.