I'd mapped out a route that ended up being tossed. My plan was to head to Barrie to stop in quickly at the Trek Store to update the guys on the HAN team status. Oh and to get free water.
The trip down was pretty uneventful. Took the hilly route to Hillsdale so I could take care of my coach's requirements. My legs were not very happy with me after the day of yard work on Friday.
Saw a bunny that was tripped out on heroin, this one didn't deserve to die. Ok, yes it did.
This was about the time that I knew the ride was going to turn cruel. Taking Hwy 93 I started to run out of gears. We were pushing high 40's with no effort. Yep that mean low 20's on the way back. Deal with it later I kept thinking.
Hit Barrie in 2.5 hours, topped up the bottles, had the guys make smart ass comments about what we were in for on the return trip etc. I have such supportive friends some days. This is when I realized most of the things they sad were going to happen and the sun is sometimes just an illusion. Brent tucked in the draft to try and stay warm. I just kept thinking about turning my legs. The wind was relentless. One of those straight flag days. What happened to the heat???
An hour later the 911 phone call went out. Brent was trashed, freezing and miserable. What do you know a cop showed up.
We have such a bike friendly area that the Police will give any cyclist a ride home. Dream world, Brent's father is the cop in question and is a cyclist himself. It's nice to have a cop friend that you can give idiot drivers licence plate numbers to. Remember that tow truck that ran me off the road last year? Let's just saw that they give cyclist a nice space now.
Since I was pedalling alone now I cranked up the music and decided on which way to head home. Let's see, smooth pavement but open fields and wind or crap pavement hills, and a head wind. Yep, I took the second.
At least climbing there wasn't as much of a wind chill right??? The thought of using my 53t would be gone also heading this way which was good because my hands were pretty much frozen and I couldn't shift into it anyway.
Spent an hour and a half climbing before I hit the rail trail. This was the first time I wasn't pedalling into the wind. It was also the first time in 3 hours that I saw 30 km/h or more. Of course I was right along the waterfront which meant full grunt wind to the side of me. Deep dish wheels are great, I love riding with my bike leaning over. There was foot high whitecaps on Georgian Bay, nice day for a boat ride.
When I got home I did something I normally wouldn't, jumped into a hot Epsom salt bath. My hands and feet were frozen and my neck, shoulders and back were screaming in tightness from riding so rigid. 5.5 hours a little more than planned but sometimes you just don't have a choice.
On a great note, I used my new INFINIT 24 hour mix on the ride today. 5 bottles total and no energy loss, no hunger. It worked awesome. I felt great in that aspect of the ride. Of course I think I had to pee 4-5 times during the ride. I need the heat so I can start sweating.
Heading south today to ride the Anthem in the trails. Meeting up with my coach. With the first O-Cup two weeks away I think it would be a good idea to have spent at least an hour or so on the trails. Update tomorrow.
I need food and coffee
Later
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