RIDE 60 miles in 3:42
Lap 1 54 mins, 12.62 miles, 14 mph, 111 bpm, 400-500 vert
Lap 2 2:48, 47.39 miles, 17 mph, 124 bpm, 1600 vert
Lap 1 was with group,
Lap 2 was on my own
Group Ride!! IT, RM, CM, Jan B!!, and RM's friend Dan joined for the Trailnet Pizza ride. DC and MaryC and I did this years ago, 2009 maybe? I haven't seen JB since I think 2014, what a happy surprise. Great day, sunny, warm but not hot, winds out of the south/southwest.
We started out slow, almost uncomfy slow. Frea is not really fit to ride on the bars, she's better in aero and so combine this with Saturday's long ride and I started out hand-sore and butt-sensitive. haha.
I had a general idea of the roads, it was like revisiting the old routes from years ago. I hung with JB, learned that she's quit/retired, rode Route 66 over 7 weeks, has 3 grandbabies, her kids graduated from college! She was riding DC's old Merlin frame, and needed a new chain I think. Oh DC was going to join us, but he ended up with a "bug" and couldn't come out.
South out of Millstadt, some familiar roads, a few new ones, and then into the Ritz gas station! IT and I joked about it, I texted TH and TB to tell them. Looking at the map, and doing my banana collection game at the rest stops (up to three by now), I realized I could do the long route of 60 miles. It's only 22 miles more than the medium. I looked at it as 11 miles out and 11 miles back, with the latter 11 having the tailwind. So shortly after the Ritz, I said goodbye and headed south on my own.
TBH, I wanted to go faster, I wanted to see what I could do. I didn't mind waiting at all, I loved the company, but I've been doing this so long and so boring and so flat and so LIMITED that I just wanted out of the limits.
Oooooh and the headwind, all the way into Maeystown. Almost as soon as I broke off I wandered a bit off course (missed the bike path) but happily back on soon. Then along a highway that I recognized as one I've ridden with TH, GT, and IT was we trained for MiTi in 2014. Down into Maeystown with my only complaint being that my feet were starting to tingle if I wasn't paying attention.
Once turned northward onto Bluff, I sped up and road the tailWINd up to the rest stop at Valmeyer. A few M&M's, raisins, no peanuts, and a banana, water and biobreak, then off onto Bluff road. I had bad memories about riding Bluff once with PS group, lots of traffic and stress, but none really today. Not a bad experience like I remembered. I was cruising on good road and enjoying the push. Miles flew by here.
Then we turned up into the hills to climb the bluff. This was my only concern in the ride, and I rocked it well enough. Dropped it into low gear, sang to myself the Garth song "if it's a mountain she can crawl it", passed a few people, then settled in. The HR didn't get much over 150 the rest of the way. Yay! I recognized some of the turns as being out old routes, like Hanover road, and Dd road, but we took a different road into Columbia. Good one to mark on the maps, nice hills and curves.
Once to Columbia, we reconnected with the medium route. I didn't know this until later once I figured it out. Realized there was no way some of these riders did 60! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending, I decided these were like slow hanging fruit (haha, just made that up) and starting reeling in the riders ahead of me. The last 10 miles cruised by, with some feet discomfort, tired hands, and some saddle fatigue. Once to Millstadt I only had 59.something miles so I rode until even 60. Just a quick out and back, and I was hurting by then. Yay!
Everyone else was gone by then, and the post party was pizza and beer. Not my scene so I just grabbed some water and headed home.
Nutrition was just water, two bananas, a rice ball, the trail mix. That's it. And that's all I needed. I seem to remember eating a lot more years ago. ? Not sure.
Feeling good enough later still to clean Puppy and Frea, and the truck and the dog, and listen to the Blues lose game 1 of the Stanley Cup. LGB!
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