Today I concluded a great two-week training block with a hard club ride. We were supposed to do a photoshoot at the Life Flight heliport at Saint Alphonsus. Well, wouldn’t you know it, they had to go rescue someone up in Cascade! So the photoshoot was postponed. So Ted and I went to Big City Coffee and waited until the club ride started. We had another big group today, but it was overcast with a strong southeast wind. Perfect condition to pre-ride the Blacks Creek course!
We headed out to the course at an easy pace, then stopped to break up into groups. I was chatting with someone when the “A” group started. I didn’t realize we’d go hard right from the start, but Ted had a different idea! By the time I clipped in, I looked down Cloverdale and saw someone off the front…I was pretty sure it was Ted! I was all the way back behind the “B” group and had to hammer to try and catch them. After standing around chatting, going that hard so soon was a shock to my system! I managed to catch them just before a stop sign, which I was thankful for! But from that point on, we kept the pace high for the greater part of 2 hours. We always had a crosswind, so even in the “draft”, it was pretty hard. By the time we reached the last 5 miles to the finish of the Blacks Creek course, we were down to just four riders in the front group. I was still upset that Ted had gone so hard at the beginning. I didn’t feel good during that whole effort, and I blamed it on that initial chase I had to make. So I decided to get him back and attack!
I waited until he just took a pull and attacked. I put my head down and settled down into my threshold wattage. I could see someone gaining, and I thought it was Ted. When he reached me I eased up, but when I looked back I noticed it was John! John is one of our Masters 45+ riders and was riding strong! So at that point, I picked it up a little and we rotated. Ted finally caught us, at which time I attacked again! I heard him yell something, but with the wind, I couldn’t make it out. By the time he caught us the second time, I realized he was ticked. From that point on we just rode tempo to the finish of the Blacks Creek course.
After taking a break at the finish area, John turned around to head back. Ted and I continued east to the end of the pavement. It was another 5 miles or so, but we wanted to make sure it was a long ride. My definition of long is greater than 4 hours. We took it easy the rest of the time, but even at a moderate pace, it felt hard to me. I guess that’s how you’re supposed to feel after a two-week training block. Later on, I apologized to Ted for being mad at him for most of the ride. That’s when he told me what he yelled…something I can’t repeat here. I didn’t know he was capable of such language?! He then pointed out that that’s the first time we got mad at each other since we started riding together, kind of like newlyweds having their first “fight”. We got a chuckle out of that! The ride was just over four hours with a good two hours of serious wattage. So overall, a long hard ride to end the week!