WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS? Sunday, February 19, 2006

The way the training schedule works, the team adds five miles to the cycling distance every Sunday. Then there are shorter, mid-week rides to let your muscles recover from Sunday's exertion. Well, last Sunday, there were two feet of snow on the ground. So, there was no ride. And because it took a few days for the snow to melt, there were no mid-week rides. That meant that on Sunday, February 19th, 10 miles were added to the distance after not having ridden for 10 days.

Those of you who ride regularly and, perhaps, those of you who have never ridden at all might think that this is no big deal. O.K. Maybe it's not such a big deal. But let me say that when I left the house on Sunday morning to ride the scheduled 20 mile loop -- the thermometer was yelling at me, "It's 18 degrees outside. What are you thinking?" When I returned to the house after finishing the ride, the temperature had risen a whopping 10 degrees to a balmy 28.

There was no hydration going on during the ride. The water in my bottle was frozen. It was so cold, that when it came time to fly down the hill on Falls Road just past St. Paul's School, the exposed skin on my face felt like it was going to crack off. I'm not even going to talk about going up the hills. I'll save that nightmare for a future posting.

I did finish the ride, averaging 10.7 mph. This is not fast. I have been told by the Team in Training coach that the minimum average speed necessary to finish the 100 miles in Tahoe is 10 mph. So at this rate, I am at risk of being picked up by the sag wagon on June 4th before the setting sun throws the route of America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride into darkness. And me along with it.