We are definitely back to the hills and climbing, though today was a shorter day at only 64 miles from Newbury to Meadville, Pennsylvania – making this our eleventh state of riding and allowing us to cross off the tenth. Because of the shorter ride, we did start a little later this morning at 9 am which was a little different for us. Tomorrow and the next day are 101 miles each, so the lighter day was welcome.
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While our group left first today, we were told that the faster group also wanted to leave early but were going to ‘take it easy’, to which we all responded ‘bullshit’. At some point before lunch, they caught up with us confirming the accuracy of our ‘bullshit’ sentiment. What was unexpected, however, was that instead of riding past us, they stayed with us, and we battled the winds together. There were times when they pulled a little faster than I’d have liked, but for the most part we were all grouped together until and after lunch. It was an unusual mix having some of the fastest and not fastest riders ride together. We were keeping up at a pretty decent pace and working together.
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Today’s ride was a beautiful start even with a few climbs towards the beginning. There were spectacular and picturesque views for nearly the first 30 to 40 miles. We came out of the hills towards the interstate somewhere after that and were met with a wall of wind that was relentless.
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Ahhhh… much needed rest for the body and the mind. Missoula was a wonderful place to stop and catch my breath for the day.
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Remember the four key elements? Today was about ‘rest’. Today’s 36-mile ride was a nice recovery ride mostly downhill. It was a chilly 55 degrees when we started at 9 am – yes, 9 am! Normally our starts are between 6:45 and 7:30, but we had a little rest after yesterday’s big ride and there wasn’t any rush to get into Missoula today given that we would arrive in the morning and likely not have hotel rooms ready.
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The name of the game for today’s 115 mile-ride was about maintaining a cool and even pace throughout the first 102 miles to ensure you had something left in the tank for the 5-mile climb to the top of Lolo Pass. It’s also about ensuring that you keep your mind focused on your ability to manage and complete the climb.
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As I rode today, I thought about the key elements to manage on this ride – or any ride. Of course, given that we are spending hours on a bike, we have nothing but time to think about these things.
I realized that there are four key elements to manage. There are several other uncontrollable elements like the weather, road conditions, etc… But, if you can focus on those within your control and establish a system of managing them, it makes the ride manageable and comfortable in spite of its challenges.
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Today’s ride was a bit intimidating on paper. It was 99 miles with three uphill inclines. There were only 4 climbs, but the last climb was punchy at mile 97 running through to mile 99 after a long day. What was on paper, however, and what happened in real life […]
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On paper, some days don’t look terrible. But paper doesn’t always tell the story. Today was a 71 mile ride from Hermiston to Walla Walla. The ride was mostly uphill with a few small climbs. Overall, not a bad day. I didn’t feel great by the end of the day as we rolled into Walla Walla for the last 5 miles. I’m not sure what it was but I felt spent and tired. My stomach didn’t feel great. Will need to do some tweaking of my eating tomorrow.
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We had a realization that there is a very childlike element to what we are doing on our Portland to Portland trip. In some ways… a child’s dream. It would go something like this if a child were blogging. Today we got up early. Like really early. I had […]
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