Heat

I overheated.  I was able to know what was going on and recover, but I went over the edge.  It was hot today, close to 95, and going all out with the Liberty Bike Road Ride was what pushed me over the edge.

The first 30 minutes of the ride, I sat on the front and controlled the pace.  It was a false sense of control, but we were going my pace.  I was waiting to be passed and for the pace to pick up.  It happened eventually,  the paced ramped up slowly,  slow enough that I could hang on.  But fast enough that I was border line overheating pretty quickly. 

We regrouped at the church and then held a steady pace for a while.  A newbie was on the front and sat up, he didn't know which way to turn.  I pulled around and took the lead again,  going my pace.  30 seconds later, 3 people blasted by. Then some more....  we were no longer  a group,  I waited for everyone to pass me.  Last to pass was Robert,  I hopped on his wheel.  Robert is strong and fast but smooth.  It hurts but getting on his wheel is like being pulled by a locomotive.  That's when I overheated.  We passed everybody before the stop sign though. 

My skin was hot,  it felt like I had a fever.  The air was hot too.  A large cloud obscured the sun, so we weren't getting blasted by the rays. 

Liberty was hosting Zipp Wheels so most of the guys had swapped theirs out.  They said they were nice wheels.  I kept my own.  They were brand new, and I was excited to be riding them.  DT Swiss rims with an Ultegra rear hub.  Sweet!!!

I managed to stay in contact with the group for most of the rest of the ride.  I let Sam and some others know that I was overheated.  Just an FYI.  I was out of water too.  I had a little sports drink, but the way my body felt, told me I needed plain water.   I was a little behind, and didn't want to miss the train going down Hendersonville rd,  but when I saw the spigot at the office complex, I pulled off and filled up.  I looked in the bottle and the water was filled with bugs.  I quickly dumped it out, and filled it again, this time no bugs.  Rolling up to the group that was waiting patiently, I thanked them,  took a deep drink and dumped some on my head. I started to feel better.

We rolled down the road towards home.  A couple of guys who didn't get the memo about the cool down portion on the ride, went off the front.  We let them go.  

Great ride with great guys.

Have a great day!