Earlier this week Paul asked me did I want to go biking on Sunday (today). Of course! The weather was supposed to be beautiful and after the freezing cold bike ride last time I was looking forward to going for a ride in nice weather. The day after I agreed to the bike ride I read on Paul's blog that we would be doing 30-40 miles. WHAT! The furthest I had done at this point was 21 miles. I was a little nervous about attempting this distance but I figured that I'm in shape so I can do it. And guess what??? I DID!!!
We ended up doing 42 miles and at least 20 of those were uphill. Some were up very long and steep hills. I think I need to do a little more hill work on the bike before I go for a ride in the mountains. The hills today were kicking my butt. Towards the end of the ride I was strongly considering stopping and calling Paul on his cell phone to let him know to keep going and just come back with the car to get me. However, my pride wouldn't let me do that so I just dug in and kept going. If I have real aspirations of doing an Ironman then I'm going to have to learn to keep going when I want to stop.
Overall the ride wasn't that difficult but I did realize that Paul and Susan have it a little bit easier because they coast a lot faster and further than I do. After every downhill I had to push it to catch back up with them. They were nice enough to slow down and/or stop so that I wouldn't fall too far behind. I promise I'll get faster!!
The only negative part about the ride was all the dang dogs that tried to eat us. I understand that dogs like to chase things but I would really like for them not to chase me! I'm not scared of dogs (well, most of them anyway) but I am scared of a dog causing me to fall and then mauling me to death or deformity. There were several instances where dogs came out and ran along with us, some seemed friendly while some seemed like they were craving some people meat. Susan and I found that the best way to handle this was to put Paul between us and the dogs. He's pretty good at scaring them off by yelling at them and kicking his foot at them. If I tried to kick while riding I'd probably fall over and then get mauled. I might have to invest in some pepper spray, that will teach them!
I can't wait for my next ride!!!!!!
5 comments:
Dear Reader:
For clarification, Paul and I are "better at coasting" because we outweigh Tamara by about 100 pounds each. She was being too kind in her post.
:)
Susan
Dogs and cars. I have never seen that many cars on that route.
That is a pretty hard route, but come this summer after you have some more mile in you will look back and think it was easy, don't worry.
You love hills and you know it. Running or biking, hills are your friend! Great job on that bike!
Your entry puts my mind at ease as I have yet to go on a long bike ride as well. I have to wait a bit though as we're receiving 16 inches of snow today. For now, I have rely on spin classes.
By the way, I like your features on recipes as well.
Susan - I was being nice, I'm sure some people passing by thought I was your adopted kid.
Paul - I look forward to the day when that route is easy!
Amy - Thank you! I'm still waiting on OUR ride together.
Bob - Glad I could help, I'm sure you'll do great once you get the chance to get out there. Let me know if you try any of the recipes.
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