Hot Ride

I am very frustrated about my cycling fitness this season. The truth is, it has become increasingly clear, I am becoming an older rider. I used to be able to roll into shape without any organized training of any kind, I just had to ride.

I admit, my normal riding schedule has not been easy to keep to life observations, but it is going to take a concerted effort from now on to make better use of my riding time as “training” in lieu of just another bike ride.

In my goal not to be “that guy” the shop ride group waits on and in mission to beat the summer heat of Texas, Big Dave and I left at 7am on Saturday. Our goal was 70plus miles, and we ended up with 75, so it was a good ride.

We cut out to Joe Pool Lake, rode through Midlothian, Mountain Creek and started heading home through Venus. Since we had an hour head start, we ran into the shop ride in Venus. They were on their water break and were preparing to turn around to go back to the shop.

Dave and I were greeted as long lost friends, with the friendly jawing of my conspicuous absences from the Saturday morning rides. They invited us to ride back to the shop with them. All and all a very bad plan.

I knew I did not have the fitness level to stay with them from the shop, why on earth would I think I would have the fitness level to stay with them when I had a hour more in my legs that morning than they did. Suddenly my plan of a Long Slow Distance Ride ramped up to a hammer fest. As I started to abandon ship, I was drifting to the back and told my buddy Justin “I cannot do this all the way back to the shop” he informed me he could not do it now.

I hung on for a while, my buddy Jeff even came off the back with I got spit out to bring me back to the group, I told him it was not worth it. Big Dave sat up and we returned to the LSD ride we had started that morning.

It is the ride I needed to get back into shape, but a clear reminder I am not there yet.