I never want to not ride my bike with friends. This Saturday was perfect.
Page had 60 miles on the schedule and invited Jana and me along. A route was mapped and we met up bright and early in Pleasanton to hit the road. I’ve never ridden anywhere down there, and it was beautiful.
It was partly cloudy and most of the roads were blissfully free of cars. We saw llamas, sheep, horses, and cows. We chatted about training and life. It was mostly flat and the miles were flying by. And then we hit Patterson pass.
That’s that HUGE hill between 30 and 40 miles. The worst thing about it is the false summit. You climb for a couple miles, think you see the top, and then once you round that corner, you’re met with an even steeper hill. I honestly thought my heart was going to explode and my legs were absolutely dead by the time we made it to the top.
We stopped for the essentials (pictures and a Vine video, obviously), then flew down the other side and back to Pleasanton. Page realized we weren’t quite going to hit 60 miles…it would be more like 56. That’s the farthest I’d ever ridden (as part of the half Ironman I did in 2005) so we tacked on a little loop through downtown and ended up with 57.7, a new personal distance record!
As soon as we finished, we threw on running shoes and did a quick 15 minute run. A HUGE confidence-building workout with the best company I could ask for!
sounds like a perfect morning with beautiful scenery and friends! congrats!
I can’t believe you ran after – my legs have always been like jelly after a spin class – and that’s probably not nearly as intense.
Internet high fave for this! See you Sunday!
A 15 minute run AFTER that ride? Way to go!
That sounds so fun…espcially the car-free part! Having huge cycling envy right now (too cold to outside yet in NY, so I’m still on the trainer)
I really enjoy reading about your tri-training, especially your cycling posts. Maybe some day I’ll get over my fear of the bike and join you for a ride.