Have you ever had one of those workouts that sounds so mundane and tame that nothing can practically go wrong? Yeah, this morning was one of those. Myself along with two of my triathletes I coach planned on getting an easy 30ish this morning in a relatively safe and secluded subdivision. I figured we could get a laid back ride in, also work on bike handling, shifting, etc. Who knew the coach would be one of the ones with issues this morning!? Today was definitely one of those "I'm a runner vs. a cyclist" days! Behold a 30-mile comedy of errors:
Quick side note: just FYI- it will be a challenge to write this while keeping a straight face!
Mile 3: "My gears are stuck!"
Well, at least the first 3 miles was uneventful. Until I tried to shift onto the big ring. And it wouldn't budge. Then I tried to fix it. And my cable came off my derailur. Yes, this all happened within 15 minutes of leaving the park! Luckily, we were assisted by some fellow cyclists as I needed more eyes and hands. Problem fixed, off we go!
Mile 10: Hammer Fest!
My newest athlete, Joey, is actually quite the cyclist. Not that I'm queen of the road, but I'm not slow either, regularly averaging 22 MPH + in triathlons on the bike. On a rolling stretch Joey caught and passed me, which both impressed and challenged me a tad. So I thought it would be fun to push the envelope for a loop see what he can do and how he'd respond to Coach A surging past. Cue the hammerfest. This was a fast and fun little exercise until we got to our meeting spot at the beginning of the loop...
Mile 14: "Where's Tabitha?"
A bit tired and with the speediness out of our systems, we noticed that Tabitha, my other athlete was not there. So we doubled back to catch up with her. And she was nowhere to be found. Crap. I don't like losing athletes, even if it is just in a subdivision. So we commenced on finding her.
Mile 16: "There's a pig in the road"
Yes, folks. On one of the roads, there was this big, round, black and white shape ahead. I should have been more afraid, but it was so dang random that I had to laugh (while probably waking up the residents as it was just 8 AM) and yell out "OMG, there' a pig in the road, what the heck??!!". No really, there was this giant pig in the road! Don't worry everyone, we swerved around and no bacon was made this morning, at least not my us. Still, no Tabitha. So we called her-and she had gotten lost and was waiting for us.
Mile 17 (one mile from the pig): Stung by a bee :/
After telling T. that we'd be right there, it was back up to the low 20s to meet up with her. Then all in the sudden I got this sharp pain in my chin-right underneath the chin strap. And it kept stinging. Really?! Could anything else weird happen on this ride?
Mile 20-28: Relative Normalcy
Long story short, we finished the rest of the ride easy and together. In the end, nobody was seriously injured, my gears still work, my chin is normal size, no body got in a fight with a pig and we all got a good short ride in. In all actuality, I think I got more out of this morning's ride than I planned. Maybe the next one will go a little smoother, but this one was good for the books!
Stay the course and watch out for bees, wrong turns, and farm animals!
5 comments:
It sounds crazy, but I throughly enjoyed this ride. Thanks again!
P.S. It was nice of you to leave the falling over part out.
Hmm, based on Tabitha's comment there must have been even more to go on about....
I've had all of those happen to me while riding, though I can't say that more than one has happened in any particular ride at a time, although I've never been stung by a bee while not riding my bike and I have also had a bug once get stuck in my shirt shirt while riding and had to come to a screeching halt while also trying to get it out AND remain upright.
Average 22mph on the bike? Damn girl. I averaged 13.8 on my half IM this past weekend in Boise and thought I was a rockstar ;). It was pretty crazy 40mph windy though...still, I suck on a bike and the wind just didn't help at all.
Glad to hear you're okay after that crazy adventure. I've never seen a pig on a road before...but I have been stung by a stupid bee.
Thanks for your continued inspiration, it's always good for my head to come by your blog and read. :)
OK...I needed a chuckle and you came through! Thanks!
One question, after your ride, did breakfast include bacon?
Pig in the road???? Sounds like an Alabama story!
My very first bike race ever I couldn't switch any gears. Fun stuff.
You are such a beast- low 20??!???
Can't wait to see you soon!
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