No, we are not fairies!

Mike, Art, and I just can’t let go of the Thursday night ride. We wheeled out just after six and managed to squeeze out our normal ride. The cloud cover made the last few minutes even darker than it would have been.

It was a pleasant ride. The rain stopped just before I went out to load up my bike. The rain returned immediately when I turned out of the Sunshine parking lot onto Pleasantburg Drive. Perfect timing…

Yesterday I was pretty sore from my crash on Tuesday evening. They always say the second day is worse than the first. I had limped around all day, but when I got on my bike the soreness disappeared after just a few moments.

By the time I returned home I was feeling great – except for where my glove had rubbed the scab off of the wound on my palm. I could never find a comfortable place to put my hand on my bars. Then the sweat got in there and, ooooo, that stings!

Riding along the base of and over Paris Mountain was really cool. There was a bank of fog about halfway up. As we rode along the base we could look up and see the cloud up where we would soon be riding.

Once we got there we seemed to be enveloped in the fog and it shut out everything around us. Our safety lights bobbed up and down blinking on and off in the mist. Some kid might have looked up the road and thought there were woodland fairies making their way to the peak.

I didn’t have my mind set on beating my record last night. It was just a recovery ride from my crash. However, as we neared the wall, Art said to me, “We’re at 12’ 07”. If you sprint you might beat your record.” I couldn’t help it. I stepped it up and went for it.

Because I had not pushed myself too much at the start, I was feeling pretty good. I started off out of the seat about three rings down. I maintained that push until I made that final left turn toward the KOM line. I went down to the easiest gear and sat. My heart rate hit 190 at that moment. I kept up a high cadence and crossed the line.

I looked down and thought I saw 12’ 43” – “No way!” I thought. In the low light, I just couldn’t make it out. Was that a 13 or a 12? I knew I had climbed that section better than ever before, but could I have done it in around 30 seconds? My mind wasn’t clear enough to process the mathematics.

Turns out it was 13’ 43” and that’s okay. At the halfway point, we were at 7’ 04” which means I had a better second half than first. I really think that 13’ is doable for me. It will get tougher as the weather gets cooler, but perhaps by spring I’ll be ready.