A couple summers ago, I met Dani through Team Z and we did a lot of training together. Then, I kinda took a break from training and she left the team, though we got together last year for the Luray Swim. We got in touch earlier this year and realized we have a lot in common and decided to get together..... and why not for a bike ride?! Uhh.. except it's been since June 2016 that I was last outside on my bike. And before that, Ironman. But you never forget how to ride a bike, right??
I had a grand plan of getting my bike dusted off and taking it for a spin to get my sit bones reacquainted with the bike seat before our 35 mile ride. The weather was unseasonably warm and it would have been perfect riding weather. Except... I didn't. I found myself the day before the bike ride thinking, meh, I'll be ok.. I know exactly where my bike is, no problem, I'm set. Oh but wait... I also need to find my bike shoes! And helmet! And sunglasses! And bike pump! And bike shorts!
I arrived at the bike start promptly at 7:30 (ugh... early weekend wakeup times) and took my bike (road bike, not Xena since this is a road event and tri bikes are not always allowed) to the on-site mechanic. I only really asked him to check out my brakes but when I mentioned I hadn't been on that bike since 2014 he told me to give him a minute... ha! I wandered back to my car and got the rest of my stuff prepped and met up with Dani. Luckily there was nothing wrong with the bike, and after a little air in the tires and oil on the chains, it was ready to go! But it was cold!
All bundled up, we started out on the scenic (mostly) ride through Mount Vernon. Dani and I actually started out with the fast group! And kept up! Doesn't matter that it was a recreational ride with plenty of non-cyclists, we were front of the pack! Might be the only time we can ever say that... It wasn't flat, and I was happy to have the granny gear of my road bike to help with the hills. For the first half of the ride I was fine, but slow, on the elevation gains, but then we got into Pohick Regional Park and had a mile of downhill to the Occoquan River. I knew I was gonna be in trouble on the way back out, and sure enough, I stopped about halfway up. I never walked, but I did stop. I am attributing the stop to my lack of cycling and hope to get back to where I was during Ironman training... never loving hills, but getting better.
It was a really nice ride, and our only complaint was that every 7-10 miles, the ride organizers forced everyone to stop and wait for everybody else in the group. I understood why, because they needed to control the road closures, and this was not a race. But it was so cold! Standing around and waiting made it even more frigid. I won't say I was miserable, and the ride was really pretty with all the leaves still changing colors, but I was cold and getting hungry. There were a few more hills on the back half, and I dropped my chain twice, which I had forgotten was an issue with that bike. The last few miles seemed to go on forever, mostly because we circled around the start/finish spot and I thought we were done at least 3 times before we actually pulled into the lot. Time for food!
We went to Dani's house for a shower and then hit the Clarendon Halloween bar crawl. We spent a couple hours hanging out, chatting with strangers and checking out the various costumes. I am pretty sure we were among the oldest people in the bars. After dinner it was back to Dani's for another wardrobe change and off to the Kennedy Center!
It was already a long day, but I was excited to see Book of Mormon. We realized we had been standing for 90% of our day and were looking forward to sitting down. What we didn't realize was how painful it would be sitting in those tiny seats for 3 hours...ouch! The sit bones were feeling it, and the muscles were tightening up. It was a good show, but by the end we were exhausted. Back to Dani's to collect my bike and dirty clothes, and then a drive home in the pouring rain. I was glad I finally have a garage to park in, and I have never been so happy to crawl into bed. Full day of activity!
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