White Knuckles

So, I begin this post with my thank you to God, for allowing me to have survived the bike ride yesterday.

Let me also begin by saying that yesterday was one of the most scarriest experiences of my life. Mr. P met me at the end of Henderson Highway for a ride of approx. 32 miles-to Lockport followed by a detour along River Road.

Once again the weather conditions were awful-it was cold-perhaps 8 degrees and extremely windy. Even with my Oakley's on, my eyes were tearing constantly. Now folks if you will recall, I just started to ride a road bike. Cycling down a highway with cars zooming past you at over 100km is not, I reapeat NOT a comfortable feeling. Throw in the gusts of wind which were extremely unpredictable, causing your 18lb road bike to suddenly jerk from side to side. Did I mention that on one side of me was traffic zooming by at 100km? Oh and then the other lovely part was that on the other side of me was a long slanted ditch full of water with lots and lots of jagedy rocks. Also note, that vision is extremely impaired when eyes are blurry!

As I was riding along, I just prayed that if I was going to flip off my bike I wanted to go ditch side. Course perhaps what was even worse, (YES it gets worse in terms of fear factor) was crossing a bridge that is at Lockport to get to River Road. This bridge has NO shoulder whatsoever, so you have to go as fast as you can and pray for very kind drivers to edge as close to the center line as possible.

At one point in time as I was cycling, the wind gust was so strong, I seriously was cycling on an angle. I can't tell you how relieved I was when I returned from the ride and saw my vehicle. Also, I am so greatful that Mr. P was with me, as this was definitely something I would not have done on my own! BTW Mr. P also made me drink from my water bottle. Can you believe it? It took me 3minutes to get comfortable to get the bottle out, and 2km of riding before I was able to put it back in the cage. My heart was beating so hard, I think it almost leapt out of my body!

When I returned home from the ride, I noticed that I was in a lot of pain-especially my shoulders and neck. I think I was so tense that these muscles kinda seized on me. Fortunately advil did the trick although I am still feeling it.

This morning was my scheduled long run. I had a fight with my alarm clock and myself as I was so tired and did not want to go. In the end, I knew that the guilt I would feel would be worse, so I got up at 630am for a 12 miler. I thought my legs would be toast, but remarkably I had a really great run. I can only assume this has to do with another muscle set you use that is different than cycling.

At the end of the day, I am glad for my experience. Not sure I would want to do this again-but maybe next time, it would be less scary. As I was running, I also thought lots about what a gift it is to be alive!