Hello small chain ring, so nice to meet you.......

My off season has begun so I am not training for anything. But I still enjoy getting out and riding. Today I had plans to head out with Wynn and Crazy Mark for a ~3 hour ride. I had an appointment at noon up island so I told Wynn we needed to be on the road at 7a. They were more than happy to oblige. Wynn had a route picked out that would hopefully shelter us from most of the wind blowing out there this morning.

I drove to Wynn's house and Crazy Mark was already there. We chatted in the kitchen for a few minutes with Teresa and then it was time to head out. At 7a, it's not quite light out, but it's not dark either. We must have looked like a strange site wearing sunglasses, but before long it was pretty light out. We zipped along the back roads heading west towards Middle Island. The usually quiet roads were busy with detoured traffic from the LIE. There must have been an accident or some kind of closure to warrant all the cars we saw.

The roads were mostly flat until we were up in Middle Island and heading north from there. Usually I am used to flat land riding, but this was considered hilly to me. I wasted no time in dropping down into my small chain ring. I haven't been on this ring in ages. And today I spent a good deal of time in it. Wynn was up ahead and Crazy Mark and I were bringing up the rear.

Rocky Point was the last hilly area I rode through. I could feel the fatigue setting in. It's been a month since I rode more than 1.5 hours. My last long ride (3 hrs) was my race in September. I also had to keep one eye on the clock too. When we got to Wading River, they turned up north to add on a little more and I bid them farewell and headed back to Wynn's house. The ride back was tough. I was alone to ride into the wind. I had no one to take turns blocking the wind. I just kept my head down and pedaled hard.

Before I knew it I was back in Wynn's development. I had completely forgotten about the big hill to get to his house. Crap. Once again, I dropped down onto my new best friend the small chain ring, and got up. I packed the bike into the car and went inside to say goodbye to Teresa. She graciously have me a few brownie cupcakes and I made quick work of one of them. Sooooo good after a long ride.

I really enjoyed the route today and am looking forward to getting back out there again soon. Group rides in the fall are so much fun!