We have swam in the snow, biked in the rain, and ran in the hail. There's no such thing as canceling workouts because ANYTHING can happen on race day. But, today was historical because our swim got canceled. Why? Because a very large group of disabled kids were fishing in Lake Del Valle. No, really! Not only were there too many boats out for us to maneuver through, but way too many haphazard fishing lines. Since we were going for a ride after the swim, we just changed to bike clothes and began our challenging ride. The last time I climbed Mines Rd, I only got about 8 miles up it. And, it was snowing. Today, I made it up 20 miles. And, it was beautiful. Mentally and physically I had a good day. Mechanically, I did not. Only 22 minutes after starting the first climb, I heard a hissing coming from my back tire. Yes, another flat! This time I could feel the air poking out of my tire. Luckily, not even 30 seconds later our roaming SAG drove up. Suzi wasn't riding so she offered to let me ride on her back wheel instead of us trying to patch my tire with a packet of Gu or $ bill or whatever else we could find. So after an exchange of wheels, I am off again. I reach the top of Del Valle and realize that my back brake is way too far away from her wheel. I manage to get down the long hill ok, and then start climbing Mines Rd. It's a steep road and I am having trouble getting my gears to shift on her cassette. Basically, I can't go into the lowest gear and this is a really hard climb! Between the brake issue and the gearing, I stop and wait for SAG again. Luckily, Coach Mike and Lorraine showed up not too long after and Mike has all the tools to fix anything! So he gets my brakes working again and does all kinds of magic so that my chain no longer jumps and I'm good to go.
The rest of the climb was good. It was a 5 hour ride and unfortunately, I lost about 40 minutes due to my bike issues, which means I rode alone the rest of the day. And, I was bummed I only got just over 40 miles under my belt instead of the 60 I was supposed to go. But, I was just so happy at how much easier this was to do than in March and again in April. I didn't have to stop because I was tired. I stopped because of bike problems or to wipe sunscreen that was dripping in to my eyes (which I will gladly take over frozen digits any day)!
On the way back, someone in a big white work truck threw orange peels at me. Really? It actually hurt and formed a big welt on my arm. Embarrassingly, I actually cried because it stung so much. I guess even something as innocuous as an orange peel hurts when it hits you as you are moving 20mph. A few minutes later, Emily rode up to me and asked if someone through oranges at me. They got her, too. And, Dana. And, Kristy, and Eddie, and Nick.
But besides all that, we finished, we jumped in the lake to cool off, and we picnicked. And, it wasn't until we downloaded data from GPS tonight that I learned I went 4000ft in elevation today. And, for that, I am celebrating!
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