team ride

Woke up at 4. Not good.

Other than that today was a really nice ride. And by 'really nice' I mean the following.

• It was really cold.
• It was really wet.
• My feet got really frozen.
• My hands got really, really frozen.
• I got really humbled.
• I really ran out of energy.
• The last two miles were ridden really slowly.
• Damn was I really glad to get home.

Team ride, yes! Too bad when I got to the start 'team' meant just Lane S. Oh well, some company is way better than none so off we went. With the weather forecast suggesting the possibility of snow in the hills we opted for a flatter route and we only experienced rain for 99% of the ride so that was good.

At the beginning I was feeling a bit tired from yesterday and climbing the McDonald's hill was a bit of a wakeup call as I was probably in contention for a Strava lantern rouge… :( But once over the top I sort of got into a groove and was (I thought) able to sustain a reasonable pace which was just over 20 mph.

The rain was steady but not so hard and for now I was staying warm.

We pitted briefly at the Squak Mountain State Park so I could hit the head. Pretty convenient location if you ask me.

Climbing Cedar Grove I was feeling good! Lane is a horse and so any time I can match him I feel lucky and I was sorta half-wheeling him on the climb. Not intentionally of course. And across the top I took the lead and still felt good. Here comes Martin!

By the time we hit Jones Road my feet and hands were soaked (okay, maybe they had been wet for longer but I was just noticing it now) and they started to get cold. I wasn't slowing down yet but in the back of my mind I suddenly realized that I had not eaten very much and that on cold days you burn some extra calories…

As we pulled into Renton someone flipped the switch and my legs shut down.

Of course this corresponded with some guy passing us on the Renton Airport access road and so as soon as we got onto Rainier Lane took the front and jacked up the pace. I mean he caught this guy pronto. By now I was clinging to Lane's rear wheel.

What happened when Lane caught this guy? He jumps past of course! OUCH. It was right at the base of that little, insignificant little rise as you head north on Rainier and I was in the hurt locker. It felt like one of those little, tiny basket lockers that only holds one pair of shoes and your towel - not very comfortable!

As we crested this rise I was about 10' behind Lane and this guy was shelled good and proper. Lane maintained something like 23 mph up the rest of Rainier and it was all I could do draft him.

There was a short respite as we rode to Seward Park during which I got along side Lane and tried to chat him up in a bold attempt at bluffing him but once we rolled onto Lake WA Blvd he called that bluff and took off. I scrambled for his wheel - by now my hands and feet were lumps of ice - and had to really concentrate not to get dropped. About a half mile north of Stan Sayres Park I DID get dropped. How embarrassing to have someone just ride you off their wheel on the flats!

As I sat up I meekly cried out to Lane to slow down and he graciously complied. Thank you Lane! I mentioned he was keeping a stout pace on Rainier and he responded with something to the affect of, "I'm finally getting warmed up!" Nice. I suck.

In a blatant attempt to interject a rest stop in the ride I suggested we stop by the site of our new house so he could check it out and thankfully he was excited about that so I got a couple of minutes off the bike. I felt ridiculous gasping for air while I was trying to explain the floor plan to him.

Climbing up from the lake was basically me getting dropped about six times and then catching Lane at stop signs, etc. And then I would get dropped again.

Once we finally parted ways after exiting Interlaken (where we got dumped on by some pellet snow) I freaking lunged for the granny gear as I climbed up 10th Ave. E. That last bit of riding was not pretty.

I forgot my heart rate strap, it would have been nice to see how the fatigue and cold affected me. It also makes me wish I had a power meter for my rain bike. Funny how now that I have all the toys I swore off for so many years I want to use them all the time. Nerd.

Sleep	6
Waking HR
Body Weight
Body Fat
Breakfast	5:00 AM - big bowl of apple sauce, protein powder, walnuts, 2 bananas
Lunch
Dinner
Workout Food	1.5 large bottles each w/3 scoops Perpetuem, half a Promax bar
Injuries
Therapy
Time of Day	8:30 AM
Workout Type	endurance
Weather	mid 30s, wet, some wind
Course
Results
Time	3:34:12
Distance	56 miles
Pace
Equipment	Rain Bike
Clothing	Sugoi shoe covers, Roubaix knickers, Roubaix leg warmers, Craft long sleeve undershirt, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, Curve rain jacket, OR Gripper gloves, OR overmits, cap