bikes and heat

Last Tuesday (8/1) was miserably hot. A few people actually got sick and turned back. We all cut the ride short. It was just a drag.

Thursday night went mountain biking. The weather had cooled off considerably and it was a great night to be out. James and I cruised all over Rockbridge, torturing our legs by climbing the hills on the Gans Creek side of the road. We were at it for a few hours and I finally ran out of steam and basically bonked on the way home. I don’t think I have ever been hungrier in my life. I ate a big old burrito back at the house and then, of course, my stomach felt too full. I absolutely hate getting that hungry!

Friday night I did not have anything planned so at the last minute I decided to do some hill work. Went out and did Easley, Andrew Sapp and MM. I like MM best because I can do it all seated which will build up my legs better. The other two are steeper and require me to stand and then it become more of an aerobic workout than a leg workout. After a short, but hilly ride, I hit Arby’s to refuel before I got freaky hungry and I treated myself to a shake.

Saturday morning, I rode 60 miles with a few hills and some head wind. By the end of the ride, my legs were shot and my feet were a wreck. My Neuroma had the balls of my feet swollen and sore. I had to ice down my left foot it hurt so freakin’ bad. I sure hope they get this stuff fixed. I go in for my 3rd shot today.

Sunday was the MO State Championship Criterium in Jeff. City. Jessica talked me into doing the women’s cat 4 race. Luckily our race started at 9 am, so the heat was not too bad yet. I was standing at the starting line with butterflies in my stomach having never done a crit before in my life and having ridden the course only one loop before hand wondering what the hell I was doing. I have done plenty of mountain bike races and they don’t scare me a bit, but I was definitely nervous about this thing. I have never raced in a pack of women before. We started out rather fast and Jessica was in front pulling. I wasn’t sure why she was up there setting such a pace, but I had no way of contacting her, so I just hung in around 4th or 5th in the pack and kept up. (We had 10 women racing) My legs were sore before I even started and I was seriously wondering if I would make it thru the whole race. After 3 loops, Jessica finally got dropped or passed. Later she told me she didn’t know how to get rid of the lead and she did not realize how fast she was going. We settled into a bit slower pace and kept going around and around. I was busy figuring out which side I wanted to be on in the corners and how I wanted to get up the hills, etc. After a few laps, I looked at the time and we had only been out for 10 minutes…….it felt like forever……….it was going to be a long race. Seems like they are much faster when you are a spectator. At around 20 minutes they did a preme lap and the pace picked up again. I was hurting. I knew if I just hung in there, they would probably slow up on the next lap, so that is what I did. Then, they called another preme on the next lap. “Shit, they want to kill me” I thought. I knew there were only 2 preme’s so I knew if I could just kept up they would probably slow down on the next lap and this time they did. The next two laps were easy and slow. I think everyone was very tired. Then it was time for the 2 final laps. I waited for the pace to quicken and a whole lap went by and we were still trucking along at a leisurely speed. Now for the bell lap……….still rather slow………when is it going to get fast I wondered. We were coming up the last hill ready to turn on the straight away when they made the move. I jumped with the pack and was right in there. I had a moment of sheer joy as I thought I may be able to stay in there and have a shot at winning 3rd or something………..ha ha. As we turned the corner, they picked it up even more and about 5 girls went streaking past me. I dug deep and found I had nothing left. I was not surprised. It was not like I went into this race well rested and properly trained. I am not sure how I finished……..maybe like 7th or 8th.


All in all, it was fun and exciting and I was pleased with how I did. The corners were not too bad, but I am sure I should be practicing cornering as the next race may have harder corners. I know I need to work on sprinting as well. And, of course, it would be smart to rest up a little before the next race.

After the race, Jessica and I went over to Binder and did some mountain biking. She was up from the Lake and I wanted to show her the trails. She is just learning to MTB. We had fun and she only fell once.

Next it was Mickey Ds’ to pig out on double cheese burgers……….we were starving. Then we went back to the crit to watch the women’s open and the men pro 1,2. By now the heat was insane and the racers looked miserable. I was miserable just watching and I was sitting in the shade sipping ice water! I hear it got up to 107 degrees! Tracy ended up in the fountain cooling off.

After the race, we all headed down to Central Dairy for some much earned ice cream. The place was packed, but it totally hit the spot. Then I hugged Jessica and she headed south and I headed north. It totally blows that I finally meet a girl to ride with and she has to move away. Where is the justice in the world?