5th Training Day - Another Friend, Another Record

I'll be honest, my goal was to ride 50 miles today. My excuse is that I was not able to leave work until 2 and was not on my bike until 3:15. There might've been enough daylight left for me to go the 50 miles but, I do not have any lights or reflectors on my bike and with all the Friday car traffic in the parks, I felt it was not a risk worth taking. Maybe that's a lame excuse but it was good foresight on my part. I barely managed 35.

The first 15 were easy enough, though. Once again, right from the start I crossed paths with another cyclist. Joe was his name and he is turning 40 next month. He was much shorter than me and held all of his weight in his legs (all muscle). When he was my age he was quite the talented cyclist. Then, he hung up the bike for a wife and a job. It took him getting laid off last year to get him back on the road. Still unemployed, he coaches a youth cycling team for no pay. I rode my first 15 miles with him.

We talked the whole way and I enjoyed his presence for the conversation, but also because whenever the headwind kicked up I could duck behind him and draft. He didn't mind. I could tell when he spoke, his breathing was much less labored than mine.

After we parted ways, I fought the wind for about 2 and a half more miles before conceding and turning around. The way back was spent mostly with my head down, teeth clenched, dueling it out with a nasty breeze that seemed to always be going into my face. I was forced to pull over and take rests every few miles. I stayed in low gears and watched my cadence on the computer keeping it above 90 rpm the whole way. The sensor on my rear wheel that sends the speed and distance information to the computer was not working for a portion of the ride so I don't know my exact average speed but it was approximately 15 mph.

Despite the fact that I was unable to accomplish my original lofty goal of 50 miles, I am more than pleased with what I did accomplish. I made a new friend and set a personal record with 35 miles being the longest distance I have ever ridden in a day. My first 50 miler will just have to wait.