Archive for July 8th, 2009
Crazy, but awesome
It’s not often that I consider going on a ride that requires a 4:30am rollout, but things aligned in such a way that that was exactly what I did this morning. The moon was out in all its glory and shone brightly on dispersed, thin clouds. Traffic was nonexistent (shocking, I know). I’d scarfed down two slices of bread with peanut butter and three glasses of water before leaving and was wondering whether that was the wisest of choices as I spun up over the first few miles… but the moon over the water, combined with the subtle march of dawn, distracted me from such doubts.
I met my riding partner at 5am as planned and rode through still-sleeping communities and out into more rural areas along the water. It’s unlikely I could adapt easily to waking up so early, but there’s something to be said for early morning rides in the summer. There’s a certain calming effect, being awake and moving when so much of the world is still quiet.
We made it to our first time check with minutes to spare. I laughed when I realized that, despite having been pedaling already for a little more than two hours, it was only 6:40am. Granted, I wasn’t laughing as we tackled a big climb (been a lot of those lately). C begrudgingly dropped out of her middle ring and into the granny, while I wondered how much longer I could hold onto Merckx’s quote about refraining from buying upgrades (riding up grades instead). A compact sounded pretty sweet right then and there.
After cresting the climb, it was smooth sailing into the next town, where we stopped to enjoy breakfast and beverages at a cafe. A little less than an hour later, after a great conversation, we parted ways—C had a meeting up the road we’d come down, I had to head home to make an appointment and do that other thing: work. I TT’d it to the next time check, timing things perfectly. I was home and ready for the rest of the day by 9:30am, 5 hours after I’d rolled out.
All in all, it turned out to be a 44.5 mile morning ride through some gorgeous areas. Can’t argue with that.
