We had a wet training ride today. Will it ever not rain on a weekend this year?
Sunday: June 8, 2003
THE TRAINING ROUTE
– Our training ride today was the “Carrboro Run” ride, which you may recall me doing recently on my own. It was the one with the dogs on the side of the road and then the one passing me in the back up of the pickup truck scaring me half to death. Oh yeah, that was the one during which I fantasized the possible alien abduction and breadcrumbs incident, too. J The route was 33 miles.
– Even though it was very overcast, and the forecast called for rain throughout the day, I forced myself to go out for this ride. I didn’t hear from Joe, so assumed he was feeling the same way. Just as I began to approach Carrboro, it began to rain, which it proceeded to do, on and off, the entire ride. One minute the sun would be out; the next minute, it would start pouring. After getting soaked at one point, we turned the corner up another road, the sun was out, and the pavement was not even wet. Weird!
WHAT I LEARNED
– That though it feels like (and looks like it, if the back of your white shirt is any indication) all the water from your rear tire is splashing up onto your back, it isn’t. I found this out by getting behind Joe at one point, where I experienced at least half of the water coming off his back tire making a beeline right to my face. Not pleasant.
– That while it’s not pleasant, riding in the moderate rain is not all that bad. Or if it just pours for a few minutes, then it’s not too bad. My shoes and socks were soaked, I had a brown and black streak of dirt up my back, I had grit in the hair in my legs, and all over my face. It was so muggy that I had a constant drip of sweat leaking off my chin almost the entire ride. I kept looking down when it dripped to see if it was landing right on my chain. Most of the time it missed.
WHAT HURT
– I started this ride off with lots of muscle soreness. This was my first time back on my bike since the 93-mile on Memorial Day Monday, and my thighs were definitely aware of that. The inside of my thighs, leading up to my groin were strained for about the first five miles.
– At the pit stop at 17 miles, my left leg was sore as I walked on it. By the end of the break, though, walking on it, it was okay. In the last half of the ride, my left knee hurt at times. I have an old soccer injury in that knee. In the past, I’ve worn a knee brace when participating in athletics. I’d rather not wear one in the ride, but will probably pack it just in case.
HOW I FEEL
– Good about my bike! I took it in for service last week. They examined the rim and declared it fine, they put on a new rear tire and tube for me, and tuned up the bike. It ran beautifully today – no squeaking changing gears, and the gears changed smoothly from one to the other. I’m very pleased!
– Really, really good after participating in this training ride. I came so close to not going out again because of the weather, but was really glad I did when it was all said and done.
– Really psyched about the ride; it’s just 11 days away!
– Opening Ceremonies have been announced:
The Opening Ceremony is being held at 9:00 AM on Thursday, June 19, 2003. Ride Out is 10:00 AM. The Ceremony will be held in the Jim Graham Building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds are located at 1025 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. All riders must arrive to the Fairgrounds no later than 8:30 AM (Please note that if you did not check-in on Wednesday, you must check-in on Thursday from 6:00-8:00 AM). Daytime parking is available at the Fairgrounds.
– And the Closing Ceremonies:
The Closing Ceremony is being held at 4:00 PM on Sunday, June 22, 2003. The Ceremony will be in Georgetown on K Street between 29th and Wisconsin. Please note that there is NO PARKING available at Closing Ceremonies. Your friends and family are encouraged to take the Metro to the Ceremony. The closest Metro is Foggy Bottom (blue/orange lines), approximately a ½ mile away, and taxis are always available near the station.
– The “Cheering Stations” have been announced! They can be found at: http://kintera.org/Custom/tourdefriends/CheeringStations.pdf
Joe and I had lunch afterward at Arby’s. He caught me up on the night out last night with Steve, Brian, Stacy, Will and Patrick. They went to MVP, a karaoke bar. Sounded like a good time was had by all.
I stopped by the airport on the way home, and used my vouchers to pay for our P-Town tickets on American Airlines. When I mentioned that last year our flights were $94 (as opposed to these for $301) the other attendant there said, “Yeah, that’s why we’re broke. You’re the reason.” Then she “fake-yelled” to the crowd waiting in line, “Ladies and gentleman? This man right here. He’s why we’re in bankruptcy.” It was pretty funny.
I took a luxurious two-hour nap from about 4:30-6:30.
I finished up the TCW June meeting minutes, and did some work comparing the Corrective/Preventive Action QMX database with the Issues database in preparation for tomorrow’s meeting with Alan.
I also had a nice online chat with Jay.