You Just Do It

I'm not a Nike girl, but I have a new appreciation for the infamous tagline.  We did a beautiful 56 mile road through Sonoma County this weekend.  I feel so fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the country and even more fortunate that I enjoy a productive hobby that gets me outside to appreciate the natural beauty of the Bay Area.  While there is almost always the sound of wind while riding, there are those brief moments where the wind breaks and it's just me, the sound of my wheels in forward motion, and a gurgling stream. And, I relish in those little gifts when I find them.  


Anyway, this weekend's ride was from Santa Rosa through Occidental to Monte Rio, and out to Highway 1 where the Russian River dumps into the Pacific, and then back again.  At mile 9, we had a nice downhill.  But, all I could think about was what a bitch that hill was going to be after 47 miles on the trip back. Another 10 miles later, I thought "gosh this is a challenging ride."  I was probably only at mile 23 or 24 and my knees were already hurting (should hopefully be fixed after I get fitted in a couple weeks), but I wanted to get the full mileage in so Kristie and I decided to keep going to the turnaround.  Those miles near the turnaround were awful!  We were closer to the ocean and the wind was just ripping through us.  My bike was literally moving from side to side (with me on it!).  And, I've got a death grip!  

Kristie and I with locked arms and death grips.

The road curves and now we have a headwind.  Kristie yells, "at least we'll have this behind us on the way back."  So we get to the top of the hill, we've got a view of the ocean, it's absolutely gorgeous, but that wind is whipping fiercely.  And, what do you know?  It turns on us and we now have a headwind on the way back!!!  

Oh if only this picture depicted the
grass blowing almost flat!

There's a slight relief because it's downhill, but there is quite a bit of traffic all of the sudden.  I thought I was going to get knocked off my bike and run over.  I'm going down and thinking, "how am I going to do this."  And all I could tell myself was that I just had to keep going so that I could get out of the wind. There's no other choice. Once we get to the bottom of that hill, we have to cross a bridge over the Russian River.  A gust of wind came, and I literally screamed, and even a few tears came out involuntarily. Yes, it was that scary.  But, again, I just had to keep going to get out of that mess I was in. And, you really do just do it.  Once I was back climbing again on the other side and had the wind protection things were calmer and I was able to release my death grip (note: my hands are still sore today from holding on for dear life).  The next 10 miles or so were pleasant and then the rollers and steady climbing began again.  I forgot my salt pills and was cramping a little.  Our roaming SAG came by at mile 43.  Luckily, Jen had 2 pills that I was able to take and then I was on the home stretch.  I thought that hill would be a bitch on the way back with my sore knees and being so tired, but somehow I found myself at the top of it.  And, after it was over I realized it wasn't so bad.  I was wondering to myself how I just managed to do that, but the only answer was "You just did it."