There was a bridge out on the route I planned on my ride from
Lafayette, Indiana to Syracuse, Indiana. %$@^ ROAD CONSTRUCTION! I am
home now and in EXTREME pain! I did a sub 12 hr 167 mile ride instead
of the 144 I had planned. As I said, I'm hurting, but it hurts so good!
Elapsed time on the ride was 11:30! Labor Day weekend traffic
absolutely sucked. I was almost hit by an obnoxious teemaged driver
getting impatient and passing and cutting back in between me and my SAG
wagon, nearly hitting me in the process. I had the wife driving our van
as SAG support, with Amber Strobes on the roof and a SMV triangle as
well as a banner on the tailgate reading Cyclist ahead. I feel rather
lucky I wasn't hit, believe me, there ain't no thrill like a car
zipping by you at 70 mph on a country road with 6" clearance!
I HATE TEENAGE DRIVERS IN SOUPED UP MUSCLE CARS....at least that particular one!
I wound up starting out just before sunrise, I wanted to get some miles
in before the traffic got hairy. Temp was 54 degrees with a light fog.
It felt COLD! The entire ride was done against a headwind varying
between 10 and 15 mph. As the day progressed, the clouds and light fog
burned off into a glorious sunny afternoon with 69 degrees as a high. I
hit the wall about the 90 mile point and was getting pretty
discouraged, but decided to continue after the wife reminded me I
didn't have to do this if I didn't want to, that it was fine if I quit
(God, I hate it when she uses that word, it's a spur in the ol' side if
ya know what I mean!
)
I ran through a couple of really nice towns (Townships?) around the
west side of North Manchester. One was called Ijamsville, and the other
was Lakewood. The Lakewood FD was out and offered me water and
Gatorade, nice guy's! I was using primarily liquid nutrition this ride
and my sugars held up really well! I did get close to bonking, and
that's why I was a bit discouraged. I pushed a bit too hard, I think,
but still made it. This was a new high mileage day for me. It feels
great, and I'm still feeling pretty trashed, but recovering well.
Hydratrion went well and I hit Syracuse hungry as a bear! All evening
and most of today, I've been nibbling and drinking fluids. MY average
speed was 14.52 MPH. Not bad for an old middleaged fart!
A Bad day on the bike beats most other days, except for a good day on the bike!