Monday once again. I could really use one more day to recover from the weekend. I'm not complaining at all, but could use a good, do nothing relaxing day. I had a very productive weekend (at least by my standards). Saturday started out with a bunch of yard work. We had to have the boys at their various events by 10am, so there wasn't much time to get things done. Most of the morning was spent mowing. Until this year, we've always had to use a push mower to mow our acre of grass/weeds. This past winter though I finally took the plunge and bought a riding mower. What a huge time saver. We still mow the front yard with the push mower, but the rest of the place is done sittin on my butt.
Coby had BMX at 10 and Ryan had baseball practice in Pinetop at 10. I opted to take Ryan to his practice then me and Keevan went down to the little league field to watch a minor game. A pretty boring game, but it was a relaxing morning (minus having to keep Keevan busy the entire game). Christy called me and said Coby was battling it out for 1st place then over the last little jump, went over his handlebars. He still hung on to 2nd place and was very proud of his trophy.
Once getting home, my only goal for the day was to start putting in the anchors for our batting cage. I ordered this thing almost 2 months ago, so if my kids are ever going to get to use it, I need to get it set up. This thing is a lot bigger than what I was expecting. I bought the larger net in hopes of my kids using it up through high school. It's 14 feet wide by 70 feet long. It's held up by 10 poles each with an anchor for each, concreted into the ground. On Saturday I was able to get 5 of them in the ground before the sun went down. Saturday evening was spend cooking hotdogs over fire in the back yard. A good way to end the day.
Sunday, good ol relaxing Sunday. Gotta love these spring winds. My goal for the morning was to get in a 3 hour ride. Since starting therapy on my back, I've never been able to ride for 3 hours as my back just doesn't allow it. I wanted to ride up to Hondah, climb the Whiteriver Hill twice, then head back home. Even better though, I talked Ryan (my 13yo) into going with me. We rode up to Hondah (with a lovely headwind) then proceded down the Whiteriver hill. The plan was to call Christy from Hondah before heading down, then she would meet us at Hondah in an hour to pick up Ryan. I then would ride back down, turn around at the bottom then ride back up then home.
Ryan is no fan of going down hill fast. It's a total mental thing with him. He can sprint at 20mph around our house, but for him to go over 20mph down hill is out of he question. A decent that usually takes about 15 minutes, took us about 25. This sure didn't leave much time to get back up the hill before Christy was supposed to meet us.
We finally made it to the bottom and headed back up. Ryan who is normally a very good climber was going brutally slow. I didn't say anything, but just rode slowly behind him. I knew he wasn't pushing it very hard, so once we had a good shoulder to ride on, I told him that I was going to go back to the bottom then turn back and try to catch him. He asked me if I thought I would catch him, I told him, "absolutely". I rode back down about 2.5 miles then started back. My heart rate was averaging about 161 and my legs were on fire. I made it to the fish hatchery turn off (which is where we originally parted ways) and saw no bikes in front of me. In hopes that Ryan was just up around the corner, I hammered it for the next mile, still nothing. This kid must have been doggin' it earlier because now he was flying. With about a mile left to the top, these 3 punk kids come flying by me in a truck, two of them leaning out the truck to try and touch me. They missed, but now the only thing on my mind was Ryan. If they did the same to him, they ran the risk of either knocking him down, or even worse hitting him. My heart rate flew to 171, I put it in the hardest gear I could push, and just went as hard as I could in hopes of seeing Ryan before the top of the climb. Nothing!!! At the top of the climb it's about a mile of flat road back to Hondah. Even on the flat, I didn't see Ry. Then of course you start thinking the worse. Did they pick him up? Did they hit him? Ughhhh I hate those thoughts.
I finally get to the first Hondah turn off and I don't see Ryan anywhere. I was so sure that I would catch him that I didn't even tell him where to meet me. Fortunately as I rode a little further, I saw him waiting in the parking lot. The little sand bagger said he'd been there for about 5 minutes. I knew he had it in him to ride faster. Next time, I'll just give him a head start and chase a little harder.
After, Christy picked up Ry, I headed back down the hill. The wind was blowing hard on the way down which is a pain, but it sure makes it nice for the climb back up. I was feeling surprisingly good even after 33 miles, so I decided to see how fast I could get back up to the top. My best time up this climb is 23:36. It's a major mental game climbing this thing. You know its going to be painful and even after all that pain, you have no idea if you're even going to beat your old time.
Half way up, I felt like I was on track to at least come close to beating my old time. My legs were on fire and my HR was staying around 161. Then your mind starts playing games. "I'm not going to make it, so I may as well just take it easy. " Then you tell yourself, "C'mon, push it and see". There's a short flat section right before the final 1/2 mile climb. It's here that everything seems endless. It was here that I was about 20 minutes into the ride. Could I really make it to the top in less than 3.5 minutes. I started spinning faster and faster, my heart rate was at 171. I haven't seen these high heart rates in years. Was all this effort even going to be worth it? I wouldn't even know officially until I got home and downloaded the information from my Garmin. I had started the stopwatch on my watch at the bottom, but I had issues getting it started, so the time it was showing was no where near accurate. Nearing the very top, I was close. My watch said 2:45 and counting. The finish was right up around the corner. I stood up and went as hard as I could. Feeling like I was going to puke, my heart rate hit 183 as I crossed the line. My goal now, was not to throw up. All I focused on now was taking long deep breaths, while hoping not to pass out. Now I had to ride 13 miles home before I would even know if I beat my time or not.
After about 3.5 hours in the saddle and 48 miles later, I finally made it home. I put my head under the water faucet outside and just sat there as the freezing cold water cooled me off. It was time to find out. It was either going to make my day or ruin it. A part of me didn't think I was going to beat it, but there's always that little bit of hope.
23:19!!!! My fastest time ever up the Whiteriver Climb. It definitely set the tone for the rest of the day. Ryan and I went to starbuck as I had promised him some Cookie Frappacino if he would ride with me. Once getting home, I finished digging the holes and putting in the final anchors for the batting cage. Should be up and running by next weekend. I sure hope so.
It was a great weekend. With the exception of the Kentucky Derby, I don't think any of us sat down and watched TV the entire time. Sure glad Spring is here. Today we have baseball practice and game tomorrow. Hoping for a good productive week.
Coby had BMX at 10 and Ryan had baseball practice in Pinetop at 10. I opted to take Ryan to his practice then me and Keevan went down to the little league field to watch a minor game. A pretty boring game, but it was a relaxing morning (minus having to keep Keevan busy the entire game). Christy called me and said Coby was battling it out for 1st place then over the last little jump, went over his handlebars. He still hung on to 2nd place and was very proud of his trophy.
Once getting home, my only goal for the day was to start putting in the anchors for our batting cage. I ordered this thing almost 2 months ago, so if my kids are ever going to get to use it, I need to get it set up. This thing is a lot bigger than what I was expecting. I bought the larger net in hopes of my kids using it up through high school. It's 14 feet wide by 70 feet long. It's held up by 10 poles each with an anchor for each, concreted into the ground. On Saturday I was able to get 5 of them in the ground before the sun went down. Saturday evening was spend cooking hotdogs over fire in the back yard. A good way to end the day.
Sunday, good ol relaxing Sunday. Gotta love these spring winds. My goal for the morning was to get in a 3 hour ride. Since starting therapy on my back, I've never been able to ride for 3 hours as my back just doesn't allow it. I wanted to ride up to Hondah, climb the Whiteriver Hill twice, then head back home. Even better though, I talked Ryan (my 13yo) into going with me. We rode up to Hondah (with a lovely headwind) then proceded down the Whiteriver hill. The plan was to call Christy from Hondah before heading down, then she would meet us at Hondah in an hour to pick up Ryan. I then would ride back down, turn around at the bottom then ride back up then home.
Ryan is no fan of going down hill fast. It's a total mental thing with him. He can sprint at 20mph around our house, but for him to go over 20mph down hill is out of he question. A decent that usually takes about 15 minutes, took us about 25. This sure didn't leave much time to get back up the hill before Christy was supposed to meet us.
We finally made it to the bottom and headed back up. Ryan who is normally a very good climber was going brutally slow. I didn't say anything, but just rode slowly behind him. I knew he wasn't pushing it very hard, so once we had a good shoulder to ride on, I told him that I was going to go back to the bottom then turn back and try to catch him. He asked me if I thought I would catch him, I told him, "absolutely". I rode back down about 2.5 miles then started back. My heart rate was averaging about 161 and my legs were on fire. I made it to the fish hatchery turn off (which is where we originally parted ways) and saw no bikes in front of me. In hopes that Ryan was just up around the corner, I hammered it for the next mile, still nothing. This kid must have been doggin' it earlier because now he was flying. With about a mile left to the top, these 3 punk kids come flying by me in a truck, two of them leaning out the truck to try and touch me. They missed, but now the only thing on my mind was Ryan. If they did the same to him, they ran the risk of either knocking him down, or even worse hitting him. My heart rate flew to 171, I put it in the hardest gear I could push, and just went as hard as I could in hopes of seeing Ryan before the top of the climb. Nothing!!! At the top of the climb it's about a mile of flat road back to Hondah. Even on the flat, I didn't see Ry. Then of course you start thinking the worse. Did they pick him up? Did they hit him? Ughhhh I hate those thoughts.
I finally get to the first Hondah turn off and I don't see Ryan anywhere. I was so sure that I would catch him that I didn't even tell him where to meet me. Fortunately as I rode a little further, I saw him waiting in the parking lot. The little sand bagger said he'd been there for about 5 minutes. I knew he had it in him to ride faster. Next time, I'll just give him a head start and chase a little harder.
After, Christy picked up Ry, I headed back down the hill. The wind was blowing hard on the way down which is a pain, but it sure makes it nice for the climb back up. I was feeling surprisingly good even after 33 miles, so I decided to see how fast I could get back up to the top. My best time up this climb is 23:36. It's a major mental game climbing this thing. You know its going to be painful and even after all that pain, you have no idea if you're even going to beat your old time.
Half way up, I felt like I was on track to at least come close to beating my old time. My legs were on fire and my HR was staying around 161. Then your mind starts playing games. "I'm not going to make it, so I may as well just take it easy. " Then you tell yourself, "C'mon, push it and see". There's a short flat section right before the final 1/2 mile climb. It's here that everything seems endless. It was here that I was about 20 minutes into the ride. Could I really make it to the top in less than 3.5 minutes. I started spinning faster and faster, my heart rate was at 171. I haven't seen these high heart rates in years. Was all this effort even going to be worth it? I wouldn't even know officially until I got home and downloaded the information from my Garmin. I had started the stopwatch on my watch at the bottom, but I had issues getting it started, so the time it was showing was no where near accurate. Nearing the very top, I was close. My watch said 2:45 and counting. The finish was right up around the corner. I stood up and went as hard as I could. Feeling like I was going to puke, my heart rate hit 183 as I crossed the line. My goal now, was not to throw up. All I focused on now was taking long deep breaths, while hoping not to pass out. Now I had to ride 13 miles home before I would even know if I beat my time or not.
After about 3.5 hours in the saddle and 48 miles later, I finally made it home. I put my head under the water faucet outside and just sat there as the freezing cold water cooled me off. It was time to find out. It was either going to make my day or ruin it. A part of me didn't think I was going to beat it, but there's always that little bit of hope.
23:19!!!! My fastest time ever up the Whiteriver Climb. It definitely set the tone for the rest of the day. Ryan and I went to starbuck as I had promised him some Cookie Frappacino if he would ride with me. Once getting home, I finished digging the holes and putting in the final anchors for the batting cage. Should be up and running by next weekend. I sure hope so.
It was a great weekend. With the exception of the Kentucky Derby, I don't think any of us sat down and watched TV the entire time. Sure glad Spring is here. Today we have baseball practice and game tomorrow. Hoping for a good productive week.
1 comment:
Great job on your ride Rusty!!!!
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