Mixing it up

So this weekend my long ride and run were switched around to get me an extra rest day from my long run prior to the Montauk race next weekend. Normally I ride long Saturday and run long Sunday. I've been doing this for years and am quite used to it. I went out yesterday and ran in the sweltering humidity. I spent the rest of the day recovering from that workout. In my last post I wrote about how Wingman beat me to the line in our sprint. He read the post and laughed and said that he doesn't plot during the ride. I politely disagreed. And to add proof to my argument, I found an issue of Triathlete magazine opened up to an article he was reading called "Spin to Win." I got all Perry Mason on him and he kept insisting he didn't read the article yet. I rest my case.

So this morning we head out on our long ride. There would be no racing on this ride as that would violate the weekend rules. I need to keep the ride below a sprint effort. I was exactly 7 min and 7 sec from the house when I heard the hissing sound coming from my back tire. Motherf*^%^@#@&!!! I really did it this time. I managed to puncture a kevlar reinforced tire in 3 places without actually running anything over. Insane. When I first got the tire off to change the tube, I saw the one puncture mark. Wingman gave me a dollar bill to put in there, but upon further inspection I noticed 2 more marks. I let out a few expletives and nearly threw the entire bike into the corn field ala Normann Stadler:

Instead of changing the tire and the tube, I sent Wingman home to get the car. When he left I did the walk of shame up to the corner to wait for him. When he got me home, I switched bikes and we were on our way again. But at this point I had no mojo to ride. I was so mentally dejected. But I continued onward. I channeled some of that anger into my pedaling. We had a big loop planned. I thought about quitting a few times during the ride, but I knew I would be better off completing it. My favorite part of this loop is the school speed zone that we ride through. It has one of those speed detectors that tells you how fast you're going. Best part is before you approach the area, the pavement is super smooth and you can really pick up some speed. There is a slight decline as well. By the time the radar picks up your speed you are at max speed. I like to see how fast I can hit this spot. But this time a car came by and ruined it. I looked up and saw 43mph and thought "WHOOOO HOOOOO, I'm kickin' ass today" and then I noticed the car. In reality, I only hit ~31mph, maxed out of gears once again. Dang nab it.

Once we were on our way back, I was feeling better. Once again I slightly violated my no racing on weekend rule. Some guy passed me on 25a and my first thought was "oh no you didn't" and I immediately set off to catch the rabbit. After ~2 minutes I knew I was killing the ride so I backed off. Until the next rabbit appeared. On a motorcycle. I was approaching a traffic light that just turned green and a guy on a motorcycle was getting ready to go. For some dumb reason I wanted to see how long I could stay with him. Hey, they don't call me Hero of the Stupid for nothing. I did manage to hang in there for ~10 seconds. The rest of the ride home was uneventful. I came to realize, as major fatigue set in, that I don't like riding long after running long. I don't like riding on super tired legs. Takes the fun out of cycling for me. There are times that workouts have to be flipped around, but for the most part I enjoy the Saturday ride. And I have to say I am soooo looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. My legs are quite tired from the week. Not only did I have all of my workouts, but I am on my feet at my clinical for 7 hours straight. Not much rest for the weary. So for my rest day I will be back at the bike shop for another tire and then over to the DMV to renew my vehicle registration (that I waited until the last minute to do).