I got a FREE entry into the Mt. Baker Bike Club’s Chuckanut century from Lorne Rubis. He is the CEO at my work, but he also has a side project which actually sponsored the event. Check out his site at www.lornrubis.com.
I met up with 6 others at Boundary Bay Brewery to start the ride. We all didn’t know how long we were going to ride, just play it by ear. There were some dark clouds in the sky, but no rain yet. *knock on wood*
We did the south loop which took us down into Skagit County on many roads I have ridden before here and here. There was a gnarly headwind going out – we were only holding paces of 13mph or so. LAME! But alas we turned around and the headwinds turned into tailwinds and we FLEW – 21mph averages!
When we came to the last rest stop, we all decided to just do the metric century – 62 miles. Just a note on the rest stops – they had GREAT snacks: licorice, bagels, grapes (my fave), brownies, bananas, chocolate covered pretzels, etc. SO GOOD.
We were headed back with about 10 miles to go and the sky opened and it just POURED. I couldn’t have been wetter if I jumped in a lake. I was already tired, so being wet too, I was plain ‘ol miserable. MISERABLE! I’m not gonna lie, there was one point going up a hill that I had to choke back a tear because I was so over it. I hate feeling that way when I’m doing something I normally love.
But we finished of course. I was so ready to go home that I didn’t even exchange my ticket for a FREE Boundary Bay IPA! If that doesn’t tell you how awful I felt, I don’t know what will. This was my last biking event for the season, so I’m going to take some time off the bike and try to build up my love for it again.
I don’t know if it was because I was untrained for this ride or the fact that it was raining, but it made me think a lot of negative thoughts about my ability to ride. There aren’t many long rides that I’ve been on that have been really good. I’m always so crappy feeling at the end of them. Maybe I don’t ride enough to get to the point where long rides are a breeze, but right now I can honestly say that I don’t want to do a long distance ride (over 30 miles) for awhile.
You should definitely listen to yourelf and if you need to lay off the bike for a minute and get the passion back than there is nothing wrong with that. Biking is too awesome. Better do less over time than a lot all at once and then put the bike away.
ReplyDeleteEither that or get a sweet new pair of cycling socks that usually works for me.
Truth be told I think we are all a little burned out on something by this point of the year. I have one triathlon left and I am really looking forward to switching focus after October 10. I want to train, but concentrate on some other things like swimming more and the gym.
Bummer! Yeah, it was raining like craaaazy on Sunday, sorry you got caught up in that, I actually was thinking about you and hoping that you were already done. I know everyone has been there, where you just feel like you wanna quit and it's torture to finish. I had to take time away from my bike too after my last tri in the rain ... the sight of him was too much. Do some cool classes or something and do just what Patrick said and build up your love again, it will come on a nice bright sun shiny day! And if you wanna go grab that beer some OTHER time, let me know, I'm a ho for the blonde ... (the blonde beer by the way, not like some blonde waitress there ... I realized after I typed that how weird it might look!)
ReplyDeletesometimes a break can be good to refocus but i'd say give it a few more rides before you make that call. often, with my running, i'll have a bad long run or two and can snap out of it and only after several bad runs do i try to refocus.
ReplyDeletebut rain = no fun. so it could have been that. rainy anything puts me in a foul mood. hope that you feel better about the biking :)
Sorry you feel this way - there are many in this boat right now of doubting their abilities.
ReplyDeleteI personally think it was the chocolate covered pretzels - eliminate them from the diet everything else would have been fine. (I heard that rain would also wait for all riders to get home.)
Sorry the stupid NW weather gotcha! That would really put a...damper...on things. Wow, I'm too cheesy! If you're not feeling it, then take a step back, you might find you miss ya the sucker. Especially by the time STP comes around!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, you're supposed to feel that way after many hours on a bike! Everyone does. I got caught in the same deluge and it wasn't fun. And I shed a few tears at mile 90 wondering if I could make it through the last 10 miles. But you rode 62 miles so you're automatically awesome! The will to ride will come roaring back after you've rested up. Congrats on finishing the metric century!
ReplyDeleteMaybe a little of both? not trained (enough) and the weather. Two things that could burn a person the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteI have ridden in hail storms and too many rain storms to count and each time I am done I say no more! I think weather just messes with our minds! So don't let it get you too down. Take the time off and then get back out there with some fury!
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