Feeling Good

I rolled out of the house yesterday morning to ride to work.  I was planning on doing the Thursday night ride with Liberty Bikes, but was not sure how I would feel after my 7hr "training ride" on Sunday.   Surprisingly, I felt good and hoped that my legs would hold up for the ride later. 

The time finally passed and I headed down Hwy 70 West, to the Blue Ridge Parkway, then up and over two ridges before coasting down to Hendersonville Rd and the shop.   I had about 8 minutes to spare, so I set about filling my water bottles and eating a little bit.   It was about 90 degrees out and I had already gone through one bottle of endurance drink. 

About 15 guys showed up and we headed out.  Everybody talked about the heat.  No one talked about the Tour de France.  The pace up the Parkway was fast but not as fast as normal,  that is a good thing.  I was planning on telling them to go ahead and then finish the route at my own pace.   I wanted to get time on the bike,  just didn't know if I could keep up. 

I was surprised that 30 minutes into the ride, I was still with the group.  They must have been feeling the heat, I was the first one to the stop sign at the church. 

We rode on, through Mills River, out through Fletcher.  Picking up speed, shattering then regrouping.  That is a nice thing about this group.  We go as hard as we can for a stretch, then we re-group and do it all over.  It's a great workout and it's making me stronger.  It's fun too. 

As we wound our way around the county and back onto Hendersonville road for the 5 ish mile cool down back to the shop, I commented that the shadows are longer now than they were 3 months ago.  The change of seasons is coming.  In another 4 weeks things should start to cool down a tad. 


Have a great day.