Addicted to Exercise

This morning I did something really fun. It was my normal Friday morning ride, but we stopped at the park south of Kyle for a quick swim in the river. That worked out really well, so I think this will become a regular addition to the routine. The weather felt really mild this morning compared to the last few days. (It actually ended up being really hot today, but that didn’t happen until later in the day.)

On the way back we got to see some cars crash. Some woman was waiting to turn left just past an intersection, and when the light turned green, the guy waiting at the light in her lane gunned it and drove right through the intersection and into the stopped car. Thud.

Other than that the ride was pretty uneventful. I logged 23.5 miles each direction. I do not have my new tires yet, so in place of the one that’s got a hole I used a really old one that still has a little life left in it. I’m glad it held up.

Well, sometimes things just don’t go quite according to plan. The plan this morning was to ride between 30 and 40 miles from the house. I made it out 8 miles or so before I had my little problem. I didn’t even see it until I went back and looked, but I managed to run over a piece of glass that tore a huge gash in my front tire. This wasn’t your normal puncture. It was a tear that went most of the way across the tire. I wasn’t sure if I could even get back. I applied some tape and a piece of an old tire on the inside, blew up a new tube, and tried it out. Surprisingly, it held air, and I made it the whole 8 miles back home. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but it was much better than having to get picked up!

Putting a piece of an old tire in there over the hole is a trick my roommate taught me, and now I’m a firm believer in it. The guy I was riding with this morning said that once he had had a much smaller tear than I had, and he tried just taping it and it would not even last a few minutes under load. He was totally amazed we made it back without having to stop again. Anyway, that tire is toast, but at least I didn’t get stranded.

I knew of a couple groups doing rides today, and I selected the one I knew would help me do a “recovery” speed. We were meeting at the Veloway, and I rode down as usual. Only a few of us ended up showing up, but that was okay. The route was mostly my normal route from Friday mornings, but we took a different road out. The loop was a little over 36 miles, and including my trips to and from the Veloway, I measured exactly 47 miles. Neat. Anyway, my heart rate stayed well in the comfortable zone the whole time, and I felt good. The wind was absolutely brutal down in Kyle. There’s always a headwind on the way out, but this was about the strongest I’ve seen. Naturally it was very helpful on the way back.

There was a lot of rain in the forecast for today, but it was all clear when I woke up this morning. So, I decided to head out for my normal Friday ride. We had plenty of time today, so we went all the way down to San Marcos. Coming back up, it was raining in Kyle, and then the real rain started about two miles from home. I ended up getting soaked there at the end, but I did manage almost 60 miles in all, and most of them were dry and pleasant. I’ll take it.

Today I received a lesson in why it’s always important to be prepared. My plan this morning was to meet a few people I knew plus a few people I didn’t for about a 40 mile ride starting down at the Veloway. I just rode from the house since it wasn’t far and I felt like going a little farther.

We started out heading south but along some different roads than I normally take. I wouldn’t consider going that way except in a pretty big group since there isn’t really a shoulder on a couple of those roads while there tend to be a lot of cars. After about 20 miles we decide to head back a different way than we went out, and that ended up being the way I normally get back from Kyle when I ride down there. I figured we were close to there, but actually we had about 15 miles just to get there still. So, the main part of the ride ended up being about 55 miles.

Since I had a little over five before we started, and my total miles were going to be pretty high for the day already, I decided I would do some laps around the Veloway before going home so I could bring my total up and beat my record. I planned to do five laps since that would get me to 80 miles. The first lap felt pretty good, but on the second one I started to feel not as good. I stopped after the second one and drank a bunch of water, and then I went on. In the third lap I just felt really, really hungry. I had only brought enough food for about 60 miles, and I was out. I knew during the fourth lap that I would not make it through a fifth, so I headed back after that.

As I rode those last couple miles back to the house, all I could think about was getting there and stuffing some food in my mouth. I made it back in one piece, and I felt much better after eating, but I had to settle for just 78 miles. Next time I go out, I’m bringing more food. You just never know what might happen.

As has been fairly customary all summer, I made it out this morning for almost 40 miles of riding before work. It was the normal route, down to Kyle and back, and it felt really good this morning, at least partly because it was much cooler outside than it had been lately.

The only real event of note reminded me of what I forgot to write about last time. Near Mountain City, there is a house on a pretty big lot with a few dogs roaming around in the (unfenced) yard. When we went by, one of the dogs started barking and running out into the road. It was the same dog that I saw do that last week and just barely miss getting run over by a car. It was a matter of inches. The car slammed on the brakes and make a slight turn while the dog simultaneously came to a dumbfounded stop. If either the dog hadn’t stopped or the car hadn’t swerved, it would have made an ugly mess. I swear, if the dog doesn’t understand the dangers of traffic, then its owner should.

I felt pretty tired this morning, but I still made it out for my ride down to Kyle and back. Normally I don’t see many other cyclists out early on a Friday, but today there were several all along the route, so that was pretty neat. The ride was pretty uneventful. It was hot out there, and I drank a ton of water, and that was about it. This evening I did some exercises for my hips and some bouncing on the trampoline. Hopefully I’m due for a really nice run in the morning.

This morning was my first time to ride the Mansfield Dam loop starting from the house. In the past, I’ve always met people and started this from some point pretty much right on the loop, but today I got the bonus 7.5 miles each direction to get out there.

I rode with one of the guys from my training group. There was a chance there would been another guy, too, but he wanted to do a lot less distance. I felt pretty strong the whole time. I really had to concentrate to not go too fast on the way out, but it worked out well enough. There were plenty of other riders out today, and in the morning the heat was not yet too bad. We took the route through River Place to avoid the steep downhill on 2222 this time, and that was nice since I hadn’t gone through there since some time last summer.

I measured the total distance at a little over 57 miles. With all the hills that’s a much more difficult ride than heading down to Kyle and back, so this was a pretty good workout.

It’s really quite nice to be able to get up in the morning and go ride about 40 miles before going to work! Today we did what’s becoming the typical Friday route: head south until it’s time to turn around and then head back. I knew my time was a little bit limited this morning, so we pushed the pace a little bit and made it all the way to the convenience store in Kyle. The wind was not as bad as it often is, so that was a nice change, too. I felt strong the whole time, and all in all, that was a great way to wake up.

It had been quite a while since I had managed to do my “normal” Sunday ride. Normally I have a hard time finding other people to do this ride, but today I had a taker. We set out a little before 8:00 for about 30 miles punctuated by some pretty mean hills. I felt a little sluggish. I was not sure if that was because I had not done this in a few weeks or if I was tired from yesterday. Either way, Lost Creek was a great workout as usual, and I know I am stronger for having done it.