Well, I almost made it, the Flat As A Pancake Century bike ride, that is. I did a relatively short training ride last night (20 miles) and was feeling fine. But about 1:30 this morning, I woke up, turned on my side, and had to grab the bedpost because of the pain on my left side.
I made it to work this morning, but had to give it up after an hour. Making a left turn in the car was agony. Getting out of the car was agony. Walking was okay for the moment, but sitting or standing was no fun. A member of my team came into my office to talk, and as I turned from my computer, it was all I could do to keep from yelling out loud.
The doctor checked me out, and even had a chest xray done. My wife kept glaring at me for not telling her about the pain in the first place. Diagnosis: something torn/strained/pinched with a muscle that wraps from my left shoulder blade around my left side. Treatment: Aleve, tylenol, heat, ice -- and no century ride. I had to listen to the doc on this; he's more of a biking fanatic than I am.
So instead of getting up before dawn tomorrow and going for a long, long ride with a group from the YMCA (wearing those great jerseys, too), I will be finishing Leif Enger's Peace Like a River and rereading an interview with author Dale Cramer in the latest edition of Christian Fiction Online Magazine. I love Cramer's writing. The interview is good, but the interviewer didn't ask half the questions I would have (okay, so they have space limitations). This edition of the publication also has an article about my online friend Mike Dellosso, author of Scream and The Hunted. Mike and I have never met face-to-face or even talked on the telephone, but we've become friends via the internet. His books scare me silly. He's working on a new one, tentatively entitled Darlington.
So no century ride tomorrow. Instead, I'll be reading and working on a work in progress, a novel I'm calling (for now) Plain Sam.
Showing posts with label century rides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label century rides. Show all posts
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Flat As A Pancake. Almost.
I'm registered to bike the "Flat As A Pancake" century ride on Saturday. It begins in New Baden, Illinois, about 35 or so miles east of St. Louis, and moves in roughly a square to the west, north, east and south. As far as long bike rides go, it's fairly easy, but it's not quite flat as a pancake. I'm supposed to be riding with a group from the Kirkwood-Webster Groves YMCA (we even have snazzy red, black and white jerseys), but they may leave a little later than I do. If a ride starts at 6: 30 a.m., then by golly I'm going to start when I'm supposed to.
I biked most of it three years ago. That is, I made it until lunch, which took me about 72 miles. I decided to call it a day at that point, or actually, my legs decided to call it a day. My wet legs.
You might think that biking on the back roads of farmland would be rather dull, but it was anything but. The first hour of the ride was in the rain -- a cold rain (and this was early June). Century rides go forward regardless of the weather. Biking is not for wimps. Then the sun came out, I put my glasses back on, and kept cycling. The countryside was beautiful, and not exactly flat.
I expected to see the beginnings of corn and soybeans in the fields, but all I found was wheat, of all things. I learned later that this part of Illinois is the biggest wheat growing section in the state.
There was a rest and snack stop at 25 miles, and again at about 50 miles, and the people at the Gateway chapter of Hostelling International were well organized. At the 50-miles stop, they warned us about a little water on the road about two miles ahead. Two miles came and went, and no water. Four miles, and no water. I happily assumed it had drained off.
I went up an overpass over a highway, and coming down I could see it: definitely water in the road. A lot of water in the road. Stretching across the road from fields on either side. It wasn't a couple of miles from the rest stop, but more like six. And it was more like six to eight inches deep. Well, there was nothing for it except to plow right on through, for almost a quarter of a mile (I kept on the center yellow line in the road, which was the shallowest part).
I was drenched. I was still drenched when I wheeled into the New Baden Lions Club for lunch about 30 minutes later. I think it was part of the reason I called it a day at that point.
The weather forecast for this Saturday is isolated thunderstorms, high of 85 and low of 68. The temperatures will work fine. But I'd like to avoid the water this time.
I biked most of it three years ago. That is, I made it until lunch, which took me about 72 miles. I decided to call it a day at that point, or actually, my legs decided to call it a day. My wet legs.
You might think that biking on the back roads of farmland would be rather dull, but it was anything but. The first hour of the ride was in the rain -- a cold rain (and this was early June). Century rides go forward regardless of the weather. Biking is not for wimps. Then the sun came out, I put my glasses back on, and kept cycling. The countryside was beautiful, and not exactly flat.
I expected to see the beginnings of corn and soybeans in the fields, but all I found was wheat, of all things. I learned later that this part of Illinois is the biggest wheat growing section in the state.
There was a rest and snack stop at 25 miles, and again at about 50 miles, and the people at the Gateway chapter of Hostelling International were well organized. At the 50-miles stop, they warned us about a little water on the road about two miles ahead. Two miles came and went, and no water. Four miles, and no water. I happily assumed it had drained off.
I went up an overpass over a highway, and coming down I could see it: definitely water in the road. A lot of water in the road. Stretching across the road from fields on either side. It wasn't a couple of miles from the rest stop, but more like six. And it was more like six to eight inches deep. Well, there was nothing for it except to plow right on through, for almost a quarter of a mile (I kept on the center yellow line in the road, which was the shallowest part).
I was drenched. I was still drenched when I wheeled into the New Baden Lions Club for lunch about 30 minutes later. I think it was part of the reason I called it a day at that point.
The weather forecast for this Saturday is isolated thunderstorms, high of 85 and low of 68. The temperatures will work fine. But I'd like to avoid the water this time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)