Great ride on Saturday. It was bit chilly when we started (39 degrees) out, but after about 30 minutes of pedaling, things started to warm up. Todd, Katie, Seth, and myself met at the Go Karts at 7:30 Saturday morning. My two oldest kids had basketball games at 10:00 so I really only had 2 hours to ride. Knowing it was supposed to be windy, we wanted to get in as much ride time as possible before the wind really hit.
We left the Go Karts and headed up towards Lakeside. From there we took Penrod down to Show Low. This is a fun road, but I'm not too fond of it because of the lack of shoulder and NO lack of rednecks. For some crazy reason, rednecks don't realize the consequences of running over cyclists. Hey were dads, brothers, sons, daughters, etc. Don't KILL US!!!! Fortunately, the traffic wasn't too bad Saturday morning. Taking Penrod Rd from Lakeside to Show Low is mostly downhill and a ton of fun. Todd lead the entire way, so of course I drafted behind him then Katie behind me. I'm sure with the luxury of the draft, Katie and I maybe had to pedal a whole 20 revolutions, while Todd pedaled the entire way.
At the bottom of Penrod, we picked up Seth who is the youngin' of the group and just so he could get a workout in, he showed up on a steel mountain bike. From Penrod we took 60 West up through town and turn onto Old Linden Road. Old Linden was used mostly for conversation as we could ride 2 abreast and not worry too much about traffic. We took Old Linden all the way through the Show Low Country Club then turned back toward Show Low on HWY 260. From there we detoured through Torreon and came out on US 60 heading toward Globe. It's rare that I ever get down into Show Low much less Torreon, but man it is gorgeous back there.
Once hitting US60 we turned right and headed towards Globe. Todd wanted to go up to the Mogollon Rim rd which I believe was only 3 or 4 miles. The wind was already starting to pick up and it was coming from the South. So we pushed hard into the wind for a few miles before turning back and heading toward Show Low. Now we had a tailwind. The best part about having a tailwind, minus the fact that you go much faster with greater ease, is the ability to really hear the tires whisping along the road. I love that sound. It just makes you want to go faster and faster.
Before getting back to Show Low, we opted to go through the Sierra Pines Subdivision then come out near the theater. In Sierra Pines, Todd and Seth decided to sprint up this one really steep climb, but knowing I had to get back, Katie and I took the short cut back to 260. We arrived at the theater about 9:05. This meant I had about 25 minutes to get home. As we pulled out onto 260, the wind had really picked up. I took the lead with Katie drafting behind me. We were pedaling pretty hard when I hear Katie say, "I'm already at 169". Meaning her heartrate was already maxxed out. I wasn't far behind at 160. Katie is a real stud on a bike and not once did she ever fall off my wheel. She was never more than a few inches from my back tire. My low back was already killing me and we still had the old Walmart hill to get up.
When someone is drafting behind you and you are the lead rider, it's important to know that you cannot unknowingly slow down. If you do, you risk the chance of causing the riders behind you to run into one another. Knowing this, it can be really dangerous going from a sitting position while pedaling to standing. I needed to give my back a break so I yelled back to Katie that I was going to stand up for a few. This allowed her the chance to drop back a few feet to avoid running into me. Standing up was just what I needed. It gave my back the break and it gave me the added power I needed to get up the last hill up to Pizza Hut. Just to emphasize the importance of drafting....this time Katies heart rate was only 153 while mine was 169. When your tired, drafting can make all the difference in the world, especially with a headwind. The lead rider breaks all the wind for the riders behind him allowing them to conserve energy. In a race, this can make all the difference in the world. If you don't utilize the draft at the right time, you may just be left behind while you watch the rest of the pack pedal away.
After almost 30 miles, it was an awesome way to start the day. I arrived home at 9:30 which gave me enough time for a quick bowl of Tuna (ya, for breakfast) and a quick shower. My family had already left for the basketball game, but I ended up making it in time to watch my 12 year old play.
The weight loss is still going very well. Between the cycling and my new love of sparring, I'm apparently burning enough calories to continue dropping the pounds. I'm going to shoot for another 2lbs this week and already have my bag/cardio workout scheduled for 10:30am.
Well I have some reports to write before work tomorrow so I best be going. Hope you all had a super weekend. Looks like this week is supposed to be pretty crappy as far as weather is concerned. I had to put in a new master cylinder on our liquid oxygen truck this weekend but I've yet to bleed the brakes, I'm hoping I won't be crawling in the snow tomorrow to finish the job. I'm thankful everyday for all the things my dad taught me as a kid....I never in a million years thought I would be putting in master cylinders and doing brake jobs.:) Ok, starting to mumble........gotta go.
Good Night.
PS: if you hear of an oxygen truck running a red light, don't blame the driver..............it'll be because my brake job failed:)
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