well the death ride came and went, and i went to the sunflower state games in topeka instead :)
the day started out really well. i woke up feeling refreshed at 5:30am...and i have no idea how that happened! didn't need to drink any coffee, which was good because i know that's a major reason i cramp. and got to the race to find it hadn't rained there like we were worried about. problem is, we didn't quite get there early enough to do a full lap to warm up, and then i found my front break was rubbing pretty badly...not good. so, 10 minutes before race time, we had to do some maintenance...which was a great effort, but i ended up not having much of a front break at all...not good on those down hills i love :(
i was kinda frustrated about it at first, but decided just to enjoy the trail and go with it. my lap times were pretty long since i had to be so careful, but i still had fun, and, guess what??? i didn't crash or cramp! and hey, i got 2nd place!...out of 2! lol it was an awesome trail and an awesome day to ride! come to find out, jed had much worse problems than i did and actually broke his break about 20 minutes in during a crash, so i had to stop feeling sorry for myself for sure.
randy got 3rd, garret got 3rd, and my new bike buddy derek got 1st! aside from jed's unfortunate event, i think it was a prety productive day!
in news not related to bikes: i recently accepted a graduate assistantship position working on campus within bonner student leadership and i'm really excited about it! i leave wednesday for an all expenses paid trip to a conference in princeton, new jersey! if any of you remember, i used to do student council stuff in college and loved it, so this is right up my alley. and to top it off, this job pays for my tuition as well as a stipened each month. i'm pretty blessed, to say the least.
7.09.2010
let's protest leg cramps shall we?
i believe i've finally recovered from the ride with the adventure monkey by now ;) the morning began a little later than expected, but that meant we got to bring a few others with us. randy and jed came along as we headed out into the flint hills. the night before i couldn't sleep, so starting out, i was pretty sleepy. i guess my legs felt the same way because about 10 miles into the hills the started to cramp. not good. i fell back and told the guys they could stop waiting for me at the top of every hill...this was getting embarrassing lol jed and eric took off and randy stuck with me while i began to endure the worst leg cramps i have ever experienced in my life. i think it's important to be humbled once in a while, and i usually need it.
it was father's day, and we figured it was a good team since i'm the closest thing he has to his kids (since they're my first cousins and live in washington), and he's the closest thing i have to my dad (since he's my uncle and my dad's in california. about 30 miles in we realized my seat had been falling for i don't know how long and raised it. also realized my back tire was realllllly low. neat. no wonder i was averaging like 10 mph...mind you, i was still being paralized by leg cramps about every mile.
we rolled into olpe at a little over 40 miles and i was so thankful to see that lovely little gas station. on long rides, i LIVE for gas stations. when you're in a car, gas stations are nice because you can stop and get coffee to keep you awake and go pee, but on a bike, it means fuel! and not the gasoline kind. the kind with gatoraide and cookies!
i felt a little better on our way out, but not for long. i clocked 56 miles that day, had a terrible headache, and ridiculously sore legs for days afterword. but even though my pride was a little hurt because i couldn't ride like i wanted, i was pretty dang proud of myself for suffering through. there's something about being stubborn that can kill you, but also make you feel pretty good about yourself.
i haven't done a long ride since then. sunday's have seemed to become my nap days. working about 25 hours and interning 20 makes for a pretty long and exhausting week, and i'm finally learning that rest is just as important as a good workout, especially when i work sitting in the direct sun all day long. i have been riding the trails as much as i can when it's dry, going to spin class but not killing myself, and got to go up to council grove a few days ago for a nice recovery road ride. i've decided not to do the death ride, mostly because it's pretty expensive, but might go to the sunflower state games that day instead. hopefully that day will be less leg cramp filled :)
it was father's day, and we figured it was a good team since i'm the closest thing he has to his kids (since they're my first cousins and live in washington), and he's the closest thing i have to my dad (since he's my uncle and my dad's in california. about 30 miles in we realized my seat had been falling for i don't know how long and raised it. also realized my back tire was realllllly low. neat. no wonder i was averaging like 10 mph...mind you, i was still being paralized by leg cramps about every mile.
we rolled into olpe at a little over 40 miles and i was so thankful to see that lovely little gas station. on long rides, i LIVE for gas stations. when you're in a car, gas stations are nice because you can stop and get coffee to keep you awake and go pee, but on a bike, it means fuel! and not the gasoline kind. the kind with gatoraide and cookies!
i felt a little better on our way out, but not for long. i clocked 56 miles that day, had a terrible headache, and ridiculously sore legs for days afterword. but even though my pride was a little hurt because i couldn't ride like i wanted, i was pretty dang proud of myself for suffering through. there's something about being stubborn that can kill you, but also make you feel pretty good about yourself.
i haven't done a long ride since then. sunday's have seemed to become my nap days. working about 25 hours and interning 20 makes for a pretty long and exhausting week, and i'm finally learning that rest is just as important as a good workout, especially when i work sitting in the direct sun all day long. i have been riding the trails as much as i can when it's dry, going to spin class but not killing myself, and got to go up to council grove a few days ago for a nice recovery road ride. i've decided not to do the death ride, mostly because it's pretty expensive, but might go to the sunflower state games that day instead. hopefully that day will be less leg cramp filled :)
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