I was about 25-30km into a "quick" two hour/40km morning ride when Gayle called. She wanted me to join her and Pieter on a ride out to Grand Bend and back... Grand Bend is about 70km from my house, so 140km round trip.
There were several calls back and forth and the upshot was that I finished my ride home (44.75km) and took a one hour break while waiting for Pieter and Gayle to get themselves organized and call me. No, we were not going to Grand Bend, as that was too far... I didn't think I was ready to make the jump to a 180km day!
Instead we decided to run out to Ailsa Craig and back --- more or less this ride, but not starting from the church. The wind was west-ish and supposed to come around to the North-west, which would perfectly suit this ride.
And so around 10-10:30 the 3 of us set off. It was a gorgeous day - clear blue skies with some puffy clouds here and there, temps in the low 20s and heading towards a high of 27c in London, a mild west wind, and beautiful countryside.
First time I've ever started a ride with an already-sore backside... :-) Today I Learned that you can start a (lengthy) bike ride while already a bit tired, and still work through it and do well.
From my house, Ailsa Craig is about 30-40km, so I knew that I was getting myself in for another century ride. That's okay, as I do need to work myself up to that. The route is a nice back country road, all paved roads, and mostly quiet. I love a ride through the country when we can cycle side-by-side and talk and enjoy the day together.
In total I rode 44km plus 76km, so 120km for the day. Today I Learned that a century ride can be a lot more pleasant than it was on that ride back-n-forth to Exeter. I was actually feeling not too much pain when we passsed the century mark.
Today was also my first really lengthy ride with my new clipless pedals. And Today I Learned that my shins can really, really, hurt... I knew I would need to develop new muscles with these new pedals, but maybe I should have done an 80km day or two before jumping to 120. A mild ache started in my left leg around the 80-85km mark, and got gradually worse. Fortunately it was only one of my legs that was hurting, as my other leg gave me the most of the oomph those last 15km home. The sore leg was okay as long as I kept gently pedaling. The stopping and going was worse. Still, when I dismounted in the garage at home, my leg told me, very loudly, that it was not at all pleased with me. I rested with it on ice for a half hour and then took two ibuprofen... and the rest of the evening was much better. Today I Learned that aggressive treatment of a minor injury like this can dramatically shrink the recover time.
Oh yeah, and once again the weatherman was not to be trusted as the wind mostly stayed in the west, maybe WNW, so the ride home wasn't quite as easy as it should have been.
I think that is about all. The final Today I Learned segment is that deciding to write a blog with cutesy theme like this Today I Learned bit, can be hard to write and sometimes reads weird. Oh well, next time I'll think of something else...
blessings
...art
PS: Today I learned that sunscreen really should be re-applied after a few hours, and that I need to be a bit more careful how I lay it on my calves to get full coverage... oops
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