Day Eighty-Nine

Bike/Swim

Went to the pool this morning.  I was planning on meeting Rheana and swimming at the High School.  For some reason the pool was closed again. This makes no sense.  We decided to go to Treasure Island and swim for a while.  It was nice.  I used my new Barracuda HotHead Cap  I don't want to give the cap more credit that it deserves but I was not cold at all - swimming or getting out of the water.  I can't wait to try it again and see if I continue to stay warm!

After the swim I loaded up and went for a ride.  I did the Tunitas Creek to 84 Loop (Click for Map).  I started the ride with terribly tired legs from my run the day before.  Before I left the house I could barely bend down to pet the dog goodbye- so I knew this would not be my favorite ride.  With that in mind I chose a route with a difficult climb that I had never done before and chose to add an extra climb at the very beginning just to avoid crossing over highway one on a busy summer weekend. 

The ride started okay.  My legs were killing me but I was able to make it up my first climb - Lobitos Creek Cutoff.  This actually loosed up my legs and allowed me to feel much better as I started Tunitas Creek.  Ryan has made Tunitas Creek one of these legendary climbs, letting me know how difficult it is as well as reinforcing its place in the Tour of California.  The climb was difficult but I was plugging along.  I saw a marker on the ground stating '4 miles to the top!' since I do not yet have a bike computer I really appreciated this.  As I went from mile 4 to mile 3 I figured I had missed the next marker.  There was no way I could have been climbing for this long and not have gone a mile.  This happens sometimes, I will be in a race and not see a mile marker so it seems like mile 11 is very long, but soon I see the next marker - realize that I missed a marker and happily continue knowing that I just ran a mile farther than I thought.  But today on Tunitas Creek that is not the story.  As I begin to look for '2 miles to the top!' I ride past '3 miles to the top!' DISASTER.  I am so bummed because I assumed I had just missed this marker and my legs are blowing up.  I decided I should stop and eat a gu ( I am not coordinated enough to try to do this while I am riding).  As I am taking in the gu I read the label and see that it has whey protein - great! I am defeated by this ride and now I am eating animal product.  This is not going well.  Thankfully between the gu and the climb leveling off I made it to the top with much more ease than I had expected.  There was also a charity ride going on.  These always make me feel better about myself as a cyclist (not as a person because I would be riding for their cause if I was a better person with more $$) because they have participants that have not gone for a ride in months, that lube up the chain and go for a 120km ride.  What I am saying is that they are out of shape so as I blow past them on the hill I feel better about myself.  It also allows me to take it better when I get blown by 2 minutes later by some superfit cyclist.

I made it to the top - where resting were the two guys that blew past me - the tortoise is making her move!! I head down Skyline to 84.  84 should be all downhill, but at this point it seems like a huge effort.  I finally, with immense pain (especially from my new seat that will be returned asap) I make it to Stage Road, sit on the side of the road and have a bar, letting my bum have a 5 minute rest from this god forsaken seat, and then head home.  This ride was not fun.  It takes me forever to load my bike on the car and get set to go home.  I am beat!