Just the story of a ride

The morning is starting slow. It's 5am. No light outside, the smell of fresh wax on the gym floor. Another day in the Ride:Well tour, another place to wake in the morning. It's our second night in Texas and the parking lot next to us has gas pump fenced in. Today's ride is to be 105 miles. I'm not sure I'm up to it. I'm so tired. Last night the lights were on and the floor was hard. I barely slept. We load up the van, eat or breakfast and are on the road by 6:30am. It's barely light. The road is chip and seal. Not ideal at all. I'm not sure which I like less: wind or a rough riding surface. I just hope to finish today's ride. I'm not going to go fast, I definitely don't feel up to that. If I'm lucky, I'll be in before the late afternoon sun roasts everything on the road.

I start out towards the back, just taking my time getting warmed up. There are a couple flats right away. Big surprise: the shoulder is covered in glass and tire shards. Most of us wind up riding together in one big line. Today's one of those days I want to ride in quiet, so after the first stop I let the group pull away a bit. The main line eventually brakes up and at some point I found myself riding alone just behind the lead group of Adam, Brian and Dustin. The highway now is perfect. Smooth pavement, shallow hills and a slight tailwind.

We are riding through a wind farm now. I still feel off when I join the lead group but they are taking a fairly fast pace. I keep up, but it's hard. We finally get to the van for our third rest stop. I'm not certain I want to keep riding with them. Brian feels good and throws out the idea of cycling the remaining 45 miles fast and unsupported. The others think about averaging something like 24 mph because of great riding conditions. I am not feeling it, but for some reason I decide to try it anyway. We load up on extra water and each have a peanut butter sandwich. I think to myself "there's no way I can run at that speed today." To heck with it. I'm going to try. Worst case senario I drop off and ride alone until the rest of the group catches up.

We FLY through the first 15 miles and arrive at a gas station to grab some refills and a quick snack. All of a sudden I start feeling good. Maybe I really can ride with the fast group today. We take off again but the wind is now somewhat cross and the road had gone back to a rough gritty feel. Even still we carry a strong pace somewhere around 18-20 mph. Adam's gone (oops). We ride back about a half a mile to find him working on a tube. He popped it when he hits a piece of wood that was laying on the side of the road. Once we have him patched up we take off again. I'm starting to feel rough. It's not really my legs that hurt and not really my cardio system. I'm just running out of steam. Maybe I should have had more to eat for lunch or maybe I'm just having an off day. Either way I keep pushing on and we finally get to the last 24 miles. Brian has a good idea: we'll each take a 6 mile lead to finish out the ride. My stretch is second and I suddenly feel strong enough to pull just as my turn comes. By the time my miles are up I'm exhausted! It's becoming harder and harder to keep in the line.

Adam and Dustin each take their turn. I am so tired I can barely hold even 15 mph, and before long I am going even slower. We finally get to the last 2 miles of the ride and I'm completely out of energy. I mean dead. I can barely ride and I start to wonder if I'm going to be able to stay on the bike. How frustrating is that!? Two miles out of a 105 mile ride and I don't think I can finish! I've never felt like this before. I'm so determined to complete this thing that seems so impossible! I slow down pedaling barely faster then a jog with Adam, Brian and Dustin each telling me I'm going going to make it. Finally I recover enough to make it up the last couple hills to the Dairy Queen in Anson, TX. Oh how tasty it is.