Finally Friday

A new medication

I found something to help Rachael and I out of our "funk".

I'm going try the Alterra group ride tonight. I figured riding with some peeps might help clear the "negativity". If I get dropped, I'm liable to flip out and never ride my road bike again. Although if I get dropped, I'll be lucky to make it back to my car in one piece seeing as how I don't know my way around down there too well. . . . . . . .guess we'll see. I'd better remember my phone though. . . . . . .just incase. . . . . .

The last time I tried to ride down there BAD things happened. . . . . . .

I have what she has. . . . . .

I think I have what SHE has.

I got a massage today. My therapist digs deep. She specializes in neuromuscular therapy. She finds spots that are so deep and so sore I think I'm going to barf. It usually hurts for a day or so afterwards, but it's always better after that. I tend to get these HUGE knots in my shoulders and today she worked them out GOOD.

Now I've "run out of happy" and I'm ready for bed. Hopefully tomorrow will bring me less pain, more patience and more energy.

Sunburst

Yeah, it's kind of like that.

What should you do to practice? Go ride your bike through a mowed hay field over and over and over again. You know one where there are divots from the tractor tires so your butt bounces all over and your front wheel wants to STICK in one which would send you sailing over the bars because you can't SEE most of them. Be sure to find a field where part of it is under water and there's lots of debris like sticks and tress hanging over the trail, etc. Oh, and then climb straight up for about 10-15 minutes and do that 2-5 times depending on what class you race. You'll be ready (but the hay field practice is THE most important part cuz there's the MOST of that).

The "single track" practice you got last weekend. . . . .the stuff some people actually complained was TOO hard, well you're not going to need any of those skills for this one.

Just because it's almost in my back yard doesn't mean I have to think it's "enjoyable" riding. But I'm registered and I'm committed and I guess we need a little bit of everything so everyone is happy now don't we?

A couple of beers?

Still pretty darn sore. . . . . .I think I need to stop for a "couple of beers" today, maybe that will help.

Rhinelander

Well, I LOVED the course. No, it wasn't a good "marathon" course, but I guess that's why I loved it.

Although I am perplexed. Looking at the overalls AT the race, I was listed as 5th overall in sport women. This morning when I looked, I'm now in 7th overall. I understand there was a single speed woman in there, and they post SS's separate at the race. . . . .but another sport women mysteriously appeared as well, and the top 3 women took a little shuffle from what the postings said after the race. Interesting.

Perhaps it's just my soreness this morning, the fact that every muscle in my body is screaming with pain and it's only 8:15am. . . . . .but I tell you, it's getting a little old to keep seeing the same top 3 women dusting the field by such a large gap, in this case by 11+ minutes. The only race I could crack the top 3 was a race that they weren't at. How discouraging is that? You line up next to them and know in the back of your head that the only way you're going to beat them is if they have a mechanical.

In a 3 hour race, to put 11:20 on the majority of the Sport women (everyone else was pretty clustered after that 11:20), that's incredible. And to do it every time you race. . . . . .well, I think that's the definition of EXPERT. I mean I'm all over the board and on a GOOD day (when one or two of these women AREN'T at the race) I can crack top 5 (I've done that ONCE this year mind you). And that's on a GOOD day.

Oh well. I guess I can just keep my fingers crossed that these women secure their spots in their age group and move up to place well in the expert field. . . . .where they belong. Until then, I'll stop "complaining" and be happy I even HAVE a series.

Thank God It's Friday!!!

Now let's hope for a SUPERB weekend. I think we could all use one of those. . . . .sunshine, nice temps, great finishes. . . . .

I think maybe next year I'll get some ears and a nose for the camper. . . . .so we can travel in style like this:

Sweet.

See 'yall in Rhinelander. . . . . .well, not ALL of you, but SOME of you. Cross your fingers for GREAT weather. . . . .or at least GOOD weather!

Another project at the HOME office

Although you wouldn't know it from looking at these pictures. . . . .I'm really NOT a slob. I'm also not a "neat freak", I'm somewhere in between (but I probably lean more towards neat freak).

When it comes to my home office, I've been a TOTAL slob lately and yesterday I couldn't handle it any longer. Between the rays of sun, my bike ride, and some "real" work, I FINALLY cleaned up the office turning it back into a place where you can set something and NOT lose it again.

Before

After


Aaaaahhhhh. Serenity now. . . . .once again.

One would think that sooner or later I'd run out of "projects". . . . . . .but seriously, does that EVER happen?

And yes, I did do "real work" yesterday as well. I spent a few hours at the office being productive, and I spent time showing houses as well.

One thing I've learned as I get older & wiser. . . . .as I've spent 11 1/2 years in this business. It's NOT about working HARDER, it's about working SMARTER. The sad thing is, I get just as much, if not MORE work done in less than 1/2 the time than most of the real estate agents I know because I work SMART. Perhaps it's because I work from home as much as I can, and USUALLY my dogs don't steal my precious time with silly things like gossip? Or maybe it's because I have more important things to do than sit and chit chat. . . . . .like RIDE MY BIKE.

Meteorology. . . . .fact or fiction?

Yeah. This looks like full on clouds with rain all day, doesn't it???

More "clouds & rain". . . . . . . .

What the hell. I think being a weather "person" is the only job where you get paid to be WRONG most of the time. In fact, I took weather and climate in college. . . . .I believe that qualifies ME to be a meteorologist.

Braved the "rain" to get my ride in. Although it was touch and go. . . .

Ride time: 2:13
AHR: 149
Mileage: 36.6
Speed: 16.5 mph

I wonder what a meteorologist makes per year. . . . . . . .

Work, work, work

This afternoon had me sneaking out for a ride between showers as the sun waited until AFTER I was done to pop out. I took the road bike (Sydney) out for another time trial ride. With a 45 minute warm up, I put the hammer down and crossed my "finish line" in under 30 minutes - my best time yet. AHR 177, MPH 20.3, total ride time 1:45.

As if that didn't tax me enough, I promptly came home and hit the flower beds yet one more time. The one right by our front door drives me NUTS. It's completely chaos so I decided it was time to fix that.

Here's what I started with.

I don't know what the lady who lived here before us was thinking. ALL the flower beds look like this, and they're ALL the way around our house! Yikes!! WAAAAAAY too much work for me. I hate gardening. Relaxing, my ass. It's freakin' hard work!


Finally, after about 2 full hours I had finally achieved THIS.

Aaaaaahhhhhh. Serenity now. I can't wait to put something SUPER SIMPLE in this bed. Like some mulch/bark and my fountain.

Now my body has reached it's capacity for "manual labor" for a while. Between the left over knots in my shoulder from the weekend, my tired legs from my TT ride, and my sore back from pulling the freakin' TREES & weeds that were rooted in HELL out of this flower bed. . . . .I'm done.

My saddle had a blow out

Thanks to the wonderful conditions at Mt Morris this past weekend, my bike is receiving a number of new parts. Come Rhinelander, I should be able to turn those pedals without a problem (well, at least through no fault of my bike).

I also managed to blow the side of my saddle out this past weekend as well. It had already started, but the full-on mud race took it over the edge. SO. . . . . . .I did some research and found a new one to try and it's on it's way.I'm so excited! Now, before I go and mess up my almost PERFECT bicycle settings. . . . . .can someone (knowledgeable) please tell me EXACTLY what to measure so I get it in the exact same spot? Thanks!

Mt Morris

Well, I've had time to think about it, and I have to say that race really was NOT fun.

As I prepped my bike that morning I noticed my cranks were turning REALLY hard. As I investigated further, I noticed one of my pulleys was barely turning (no, it wasn't the same one I had issues with last time - it was the other). I have a hard enough time pedaling WITHOUT extra resistance, but luckily we had enough time to take it off and clean it out so it spun nice and freely again. I lubed up the chain and was ready to go. . . . .or so I thought.

Nothing felt right this weekend. . . . .watching the elite race before me, trying to figure out what to eat and when so I would have enough energy to race, getting my gear on and having to wear a long sleeve shirt in the middle of August, racing on Saturday not Sunday, watching the rain come down. . . . .and down. . . . . .and down, watching the mud build up. . . . .and up. . . . .and up, having to switch out my seat post clamp with Bill since his broke and we were hard pressed to find a replacement . . . . .the whole weekend just felt wrong.

But I set out on a "warm up" none-the-less. As I hopped on my bike, I noticed my pedals were STILL turning really hard and now my bike was making this terrible noise, like the chain was going to suck up at any moment. I turned around and tried to find CK (aka "my mechanic") but he was no where to be found. I called Bill out of the warmth of the camper to investigate why the pedals were so darn hard to turn. Wrapped in his towel, fresh from the shower, he stood in the cold and told me something about it was likely my bottom bracket, or some bearings or something and said "well, there's nothing we can do about it now, just go race". Great. This should be fun. I'll probably suck the chain clear up to my SEAT the first time I try to pound, but whatever. I'm here, I might as well try it.

As we lined up on the start line I noticed some of my peeps decided to bag it. What a bunch of girls. They'd better darn well be hammered as I pass them spectating was all I had to say. And one of them surely didn't disappoint me as she chased me up the hill.

Don yelled go, I started to pedal and realized I was going no where fast. I stood to get my pedals turning and was already mid-pack. I tried to dump some gears going in the first climb, and dropped back a few more spots, I stood waiting for my turn to dump into the mud single track, yippee. Almost immediately my glasses fogged up. We're not even out of the first section of single track and I'm thinking "great, not only can't I turn the f&#king pedals, but I can't see a damn thing either and my chain is about to suck into oblivion any second." I ride past Bill on the flat stretch of gravel road, he yells at me, I mumble something about taking a DNF today, and he yells at me more. My chain hasn't sucked up yet, and honestly I'm starting to get good at riding when I can't see. . . . . .so I though well, I'll stick it out and see how bad it really is.

Yeah. It was bad.

Sport saw ruts that were SO deep you only needed to aim your front wheel SOMEWHERE near them and they'd suck you right in. I saw people yard sale it EVERYWHERE. I spent half the race trying to keep Athena upright and not yard sale it myself, and the other half was spent trying to wade through mud over my shoes in places without yard saleing it. As a conservative guess, I would estimate at least 1/3 of this race was spent walking/hiking for me. Either someone in front of me biffed, or my tire spun out somewhere, or the mud was so deep you'd be spinning and not moving, or you couldn't even SEE any tire marks because everyone walked, or I was afraid I'd crap my shorts trying to ride down some of those nasty turns . . . . .it was crazy.

As I rode past our cheering section and the crazy drunk people, I thought long and hard about pulling off. I was somewhere near the back of the women, having a really hard time doing ANYTHING, and TOTALLY wanting to be done. I had already chain sucked a few times, walked a TON and wiped the fog from my glasses at LEAST 30 times. But now, I was already 1/2 way there. Why quit now? I was already all muddy, whatever damage was going to happen to Athena was already done, why not burn off a few more calories so I could have that vodka lemonade without feeling guilty? So I hung in there.

My average heart rate for a "normal" WORS race is somewhere around 180. Yesterday it was 169. I managed to hold a few conversations, tell a few jokes, thank a few spectators and once I decided FINISHING was the goal. . . .not placement. . . .only THEN did I start to have a little bit of fun. Yes, a LITTLE bit of fun.

Now let's hope for a DRY Rhinelander. Marathon races are not my thing. . . . .but I welcome the opportunity for a DRY, technical race. Now THAT would be fun.

Tomorrow I'll share the high points of the weekend. . . . the food, and time with the peeps. But first. . . I need to DRY OFF.

Rain???

Bring it on.

I'm ready.

Almost the weekend

Well, it's almost the weekend. Almost time to climb, climb, climb. While the weather outlook is somewhat sketchy. . . . .with possible showers on Saturday, I'm thinking it's still going to be a most excellent weekend. I can't wait for it to begin, so I can just relax.

Another golf outting

Those who know me, know I am NOT a good golfer. I usually golf once a year at our Realtors function and I have 3 requirements.

1) It must be a best ball/scramble format. Otherwise I'd be out there ALL day.
2) We must take a cart. If I'm going to tire myself out, I'm going to do it on my bike, not chasing a little white ball around 18 holes.
3) There must be alcohol involved. If I'm going to hit a tiny ball with a medal stick, I'm going to need to have SOMETHING to drink containing alcohol.

Because of my 3 requirements, my personality (my even MORE fun personality with a little alcohol), and the personalities of the people I work with, any time we golf is sure to be a good time. Yesterday was no exception.

I was asked by a friend/co-worker - BINK (yes, that's actually his name) to golf on his team. Besides being a full time real estate tycoon, he owns a restaurant/bar on Hwy 33 in West Bend, across from Fleet Farm, and he's one of the nicest most generous people you'll ever meet. He had a spot open on the 4-some he sponsored and asked me to join. How could I say no?


When I arrived, I discovered my 4-some contained 2 of my favorite co-workers (Jeff & Don) and my manager's husband (a retired school teacher). I was a little nervous because these guys could actually GOLF, but they took me under their wings and we had a great time.


At approximately 3:17pm, Jeff Walters hit the "shot of the day" and then posed for the paparazzi.

I think it all went downhill after that. I couldn't even TELL you what our score ended up being, but I can tell you we certainly weren't in contention for any awards.

Afterwards we grabbed one last cocktail while we gabbed most of the evening away before heading home. Here Don and I pose for a self-portrait, while the people around us try to figure out what the hell we are doing. We didn't really care.

Life is too short to care if people think you're strange because you take your OWN picture.

All in all, it was a great day. Beautiful weather, great friends, I even hit some GOOD shots. Sure, it wasn't a day spent biking. . . . . .but it was still fun.

Mt Morris. . .and more

Saturday we woke up bright and early and hopped in the old 4-wheel drive sleigh to arrive at Mt Morris by 9:00am for trail work, as promised.

As Don was gathering the tools for our trail work, we were, of course, playing with the rest of the tools and posing for photo opts.

Because really, what else would you expect from US?

This was the aftermath picture of my photo op. . . .where I laid across the hood of the WORS vehicle. For some reason I didn't look QUITE like those girls in the magazines. . . . . .

After about 90 minutes or so of trail work. . . .the Alterra crew arrived. I think it was at that point that we decided it would be a good idea to ride (just kidding. . . .they worked for a while too). :-)

The course was great. Don and his crew (mostly Don) have put a ton of work into this trail. It's clear to see the hours of "love" put into all the trails benched into the side of the ski hill. As I said in my last post. . . . .if you like climbing, THIS is the course for you. I'm a pretty good climber, but I had to take it down a notch, because there is SOOOO much climbing it was hard for me to control my heart rate. You just keep going with out much of a break. There are LOTS of twisty (and loose) turns both up hill and down hill, some which wrap themselves back around almost 320 degrees.

There's also plenty of nice, fun, flowy single track, much of which seems up-hill. . . . .but I realize some HAS to be downhill too. After doing one lap our group consensus (among the girls) was it felt like the course was about 80% climbing. Of course that's just how it felt. There's also a couple nice "resting" sections of flat (but bumpy) trail through the fields.

It sounds as if we start right off the bat climbing, which will be a good separator. The first section Don hadn't quite completed, having just purchased about $500 in lumber to construct a bridge over a deep ravine. I sure hope he puts sides on that bridge, or it's going to scare the CRAP out of me and I'll end up walking it.

There's also another section on the course where they took the time to build a great bridge over a fallen tree (I guess it's not really a bridge, it's more of a "ramp"). It looks rather intimidating, but as long as you remember it doesn't go straight over, it takes a bit of a turn to the left. . . .you'll be fine. I did it. There's also an opt-out section. It's not as "daring", but much safer if you have trouble riding a straight line.

After about 2:15 in the saddle, we decided to call it quits and have ourselves some FOOD. Ty grabbed the lawn mower and cut us a nice little "patio" area in the shade. We pulled out the grill, had some hamburgers & Italian sausage, and watched the rain clouds slowly move in. Secretly we had all been doing the rain dance, because this course NEEDS some rain. Hopefully the downpour we created will do the trick.

Sunday, while CK opted for a charity ride in Racine with his dad. . . . .Captain and I saddled up and headed out for a nice, easy, endurance ride ourselves. I didn't feel too bad until about 1:45 in. At that time I decided I was REALLY drained. I had woken with a stomach ache, and it was setting back in. I'm not sure I've ever ridden 52 miles while fearing I would throw up for most of the ride. . . .but that's what I did today. I gave Captain permission to cut me loose after 2:11 and I set out on the last leg of the ride on my own.

Ride time: Approximately 3 hours 10 minutes

Average speed: SLOW (16.3 or something like that)

AHR: Didn't look yet, but it felt much higher than it was

Mileage: 52

Tanks = OFFICIALLY EMPTY

Replenished with about a gallon of Gatorade this evening while enjoying Ricky Carmichael's last motocross race, watching a family get a new house, and learning about Alaska (not all at the same time).

Wow. What a weekend. I think I'll turn in now. I hope my legs let me sleep.

Weekend Fun

We drove up to Mt Morris yesterday to help out with a bit of trail work and then ride the course. It's funny, but it only takes about 10-15 minutes longer to get there, than to get to the So. Kettles for us.

I'm pressed for time right now, but promise to give a full update if not tonight. . . .first thing tomorrow.

All I can say right now is. . . . .it's HARD. If you like to CLIMB. . . . .you're gonna like this one. It's courses like this that I marvel at the single speeders. . . . because I think I needed ALL my gears, especially on those climbs.

More to come later.

NORBA rankings

So every year I purchase a Norba license to help support the sport. Two years ago I watched my rankings for fun and was excited when I'd pop into the top 10 even though I don't really understand their complex system of rankings. To me you should be ranked on how you finish OVERALL. . . .not how you finish in age group, but whatever.

Last year I looked a couple times, but since I missed a number of races, I just figured my rankings were low because of that.

Two days ago I popped on for the first time this year, just to see where I was. Well, I wasn't even IN the rankings. How could that happen? I'm actually having a GOOD year, how come I'm not even IN the rankings?

Further research showed all my results were at usacycling. . . .they just weren't tied to my license number for some strange reason.

A couple e-mails later. . . . .and wha-la. I'm in the rankings.

Sweet. It's fun to look at once in a while. Especially on those days when I feel like I SUCK. :-)

Yeah, it's going to be one of those days

Dreary mornings just do that to you. They make it SOOOO hard to get out of bed when you don't have a place you NEED to be at a certain time. If the sun doesn't come out soon, I'm going to have to take a nap!

Yesterday was an enjoyable day. I managed to find the balance between work, chores & biking. I spent about 90 minutes in the flower beds and barely made a dent. I've decided this will be my project. . . . .to start ripping the "out of control" sections out. It's now or never. The weeds have pushed beyond all the flowers and together, they're starting to take control. Soon the house will be covered in weeds as well. . . .it seems that's their game plan.

Did OBC last night. It was an interesting ride. Apparently I wasn't recovered so the legs filled up with acid right away. Despite that fact, I was actually able to put out a fair amount of power (it just hurt a LOT). Sometimes I surprise myself. . . . . .when I feel like a piece of poop and think I won't be able to even RIDE, I pleasantly surprise myself by being able to throw out some pretty nice efforts.

We rode about 36 miles, just about 2 hours. Intervals of hard, easy, hard, easy. . . . .from a group of 30+, down to 2, up to 3, back up to 5. . . . .average speed around 18.9. I did a little wheel sucking, but I also did a fair amount of wind breaking and hill pounding. We rode easy and chatted some of the time, and pounded hard with only slight grunts some of the time. Overall, it was a well-rounded ride with fun people.

Today if the sun ever pokes out (it's SUPPOSED TO this afternoon), I'll probably pop out for some easy endurance. We'll see. Until then. . . . .I'll have to WORK to stay awake and motivated cuz it's THAT kind of day.

Prozac cat

Tagged

Well, I guess I have been tagged. Thanks Regina. ;-)

Jobs I've held:

I babysat all through high school, does that count as a job? My parents wouldn't let me get a "real" job.
McDonalds - where I actually had my own set of keys and the code to the safe so I could open the place in the mornings since the manager was chronically late and I'm hardly EVER late.
Kohl's department store (before college in West Bend, during college in Fond du Lac).
A brief stint at a grocery store during college as a check out girl (barely remember that).
Several hospitals as a polysomnographic technologist (I basically watched people sleep - BORING).
and then Real Estate

Movies I can watch over and over again:

Zoolander, Ferris Bueller's Day off, Money Pit, Christmas Vacation & Elf (have most of those two memorized)

My guilty pleasures:

Cheese, cheese and more cheese.

Places I have lived:

York PA (born there)
Georgia (too young to remember where)
New Jersey (too young to remember where)
Rubicon WI
Hartford WI
Oshkosh WI
Campbellsport WI
West Bend WI

Shows I enjoy:

Alias (too bad they pulled it)
Seinfeld
South Park
Extreme Home Make Over
Funny stuff

Places I have been on vacation:

Atlanta GA (family lives there - Hi Kim!)
New Mexico
Most of the states (as a kid)
Jamacia
Cancun Mexico
Phoenix AZ
North Carolina (we go every Spring)
??

Favorite Foods:

Did I mention cheese??
Pizza, macc & cheese, Italian

Websites I visit Daily:

Most of the blogs I have linked (I pick my favorites when I have limited time)
MLS (multiple listing service - real estate stuff)
Various real estate pages to catch up on what's going on in the market
my real estate blog - http://www.brittanynigh.blogspot.com/ (I don't get there EVERY day)

Awards I've won:

Various sales awards at work, various medals for biking, in high school I was in orchestra & forensics and won many medals & awards (yeah, I know, I was a geek), Ummmm, that's all I can think at this moment.

Nicknames:

I don't really like being called "Britt", so no one calls me that. Girl is just about my only true nick name. . . .Bill calls me "babe" once in a while. . . .that's about it. Usually Bill and I are the ones who give everyone ELSE nicknames. :-)

I guess that's about it.

The only person I can think of to Tag is DANO (and maybe Gizmo, although I'm thinking his would be a short list). :-)

Crystal Ridge

Yeah. Me too.

Have you ever had one of those days?

Have you ever had one of those days where you just felt like you were banging your head against a brick wall? You know, one of those days where nothing is going right? Where NO ONE is listening??

I tell you, it's an UGLY world out there today. If your coping skills are compromised at ALL. . . .STAY IN TONIGHT.


Eeeeewwwwww. Now THAT'S ugly.

Yeah, I guess I had "fun"

Ok, it was a miserable race. . . . .it was like trying to ride your bike on ice. . . . .dodging fallen riders who'd yard sale'ed it ALL over the course. . . . .while you tried not to yard sale it yourself. Cheering for others who'd dropped off or fallen. . . . .who you knew you'd see again in a bit. Watching people stopped at the side of the trail pulling the gobs of mud out of their brakes all the time thanking the heavens above for disc brakes which give more clearance (I only had to stop once to clean my tires out and that's because I managed to catch a freaking LOG in my wheel).

It's slowing down to smile pretty for the cameras. . . . . . . .


It's trying to stay motivated NOT to dnf. . . . .then deciding what the hell, you feel like a piece of shit, people are falling ALL over the place, you can't even RIDE a bunch of the single track even if you CAN ride it because it's a line 15 deep of racers walking through inches and inches of mud, you MIGHT as WELL finish now.

It's aiming for the middle of the puddle hoping to GOD it's not 10 inches deep with a huge rut in the middle that has "ENDO" written all over it. . . . . . .it's walking up the Craters climb on the third lap going "I cannot BELIEVE I had to walk part of this freakin' climb EVERY LAP" and evaluating your "climbing" skills. . . . . .it's heading up the 15 mile climb (that's what it felt like) to the finish while the comp/elite guys are lined up knowing there's no way in hell you can get off and walk or they'll all pummel you and you'll never live it down (unless you only have one gear, then at least you have a REASON).

It's crossing the finish line hyperventilating and not even being able to talk to your girlfriends and congratulate them on their finish or else you'll fall over and need to be carried to the first aid tent.

It's knowing you're one of the "tough girls" who stuck it out and managed to finish without falling FLAT on your face at any one point.

Yeah, I guess it was fun.

Mud?

Well, some people wanted a mud race. . . . . .as we always say "be careful what you wish for".

The thought of taking a DNF crossed my mind MORE than once today. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure HOW I managed to finish. Granted it was a completely different course than the WEMS race (or the course we pre-rode for that matter). . . . .but I rode the Craters climb 5 times for the 3 hour WEMS race and today I had to walk part of it on EACH lap. Now THAT is bad.

I need time to reflect on this. . . . . .despite the fact that I finished not-so-bad. . . . . .I'm not really sure if I had fun or not. I'll sleep on it and let you know tomorrow.

At least Athena doesn't appear "hurt". . . .and after about 30 minutes of scrubbing, she's finally clean again (yes, I cleaned her).

Yikes.

Finally the Weekend

Another TT ride

Lots of the same going on lately. I've actually been working a fair amount, which is good considering the real estate market isn't the greatest. Did a recovery ride yesterday after all the climbing at Beechwood Tuesday. I felt like a million bucks. Apparently it just took an extra day to catch up with me, because today I felt like crap.

Hit the road to do my time trial course. . . . .see if I could beat my rather slow time from a couple weeks ago. Did a longer warm-up (about an hour this time) and as I'm working my way to the start line for this TT, it starts pouring. 50 minutes in and I'm soaked. I feel my shoes squishing, my helmet is dripping "stuff" into my eyes, my lungs feel like their going to explode and my legs felt like they were LOADED with lead (neither of those last two things had anything to do with the rain, but they were "issues" anyway). BUT, I figured what the heck, I'm out there, I've got an hour in, I'm on the "start line" for my course, they raced the TT in the rain during the tour, I might as well go for it.

The course is only about 10 miles, so it took me about 30 minutes. I thought I was going to die. Obviously my body is not recovered - from WHAT, who knows?? But getting my HR up where it "normally" is was almost impossible. Never-the-less, I beat my last recorded time - thank goodness.

Now we'll let the body do some recovery and see what we can dish out at Crystal Ridge. I've grown to love that course. . . . .the more I ride there, the better I seem to get. Sweet.

Hot Hot Hot

While it's only Wednesday, word is the temps are going to soar into the 90's again for the weekend, and the humidity will return in full force. That should make for an awesome Crystal Ridge.

Last night's ride at Beechwood was hard enough. My legs felt awesome. . . . .my lungs could hardly keep up. I had to stop at least 4 times to press the sweat out of my helmet because it was dripping in my eyes so badly. After 2 laps and 1:45, I was SO soaked it felt like my jersey & shorts just came out of the washing machine. I actually had to towel off my hair after the ride, it was so wet. Gross. Although the cookout & conversation afterwards was worth it all. Those burgers were a little piece of heaven.

I'd better work on replenishing the fluids today, that's for sure. We're looking at miserably hot temps & humidity for the weekend.