Keep on Pedalin'

Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'H' (highway, hand signals, hydration, helmet, heat, humidity, hills, home handyman special) and by the letter 'S' (sunshine, sunburn, sunscreen, sweat).

Today I gathered my courage, put on my extrovert hat, and joined a group of JDRF Minnesota riders, known as the Loon-a-tics, for the weekly group training ride. My fear was that they would all be experienced riders (which they were), with all the right riding gear (which they had), and all the right riding attire (which they wore), and were all ogres (which they weren't). There were five experienced athletes and me, the burgeoning athlete in her cotton shorts and t-shirt. Amongst the riders was Terri, the coach, whom I had emailed but never met. Terri tells me that cotton is the least comfortable fabric to ride in...no wicking action. She introduced me to her husband Jim and the other riders, Christine, Matt and Josh. Terri and Jim's youngest son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2004 and this is their seventh year riding. Christine was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 32 and has been participating in JDRF rides for the last eight years with her husband Matt. Josh's four-year old son was just diagnosed in February and this is his first ride, although he trained as a runner previously. Terri, Jim, Matt and Christine participate in more than one JDRF Ride per year and have ridden in Vermont, Lake Tahoe, Tucson, and Death Valley as well as La Crosse.

The initial goal was to undertake a 35 mile ride today. This concerned me as I was only able to get one ride in this past week as Mother Nature thwarted my chances on Thursday and Friday to keep on pedalin'. However, I am told that I just have to let them know when I've had enough and Terri will ride back with me. As we started out of the JDRF parking lot in Bloomington the hand signals are explained to me because we are going to spend part of this ride on the road. I have become one of those obnoxious bikers that hogs the driving lanes! Most of it is just courtesy stuff, like pointing out potholes and manholes and other potential hazards, as well as signaling your turns. There are the verbal courtesies as well, such as "passing on your left" (as you zoom by other road/trail users), "clear" (when crossing a road), and "bike up" (which means get in single file as there is someone heading toward us on the path and there isn't room for riding side-by-side). Terri also adjusted my helmet so it wouldn't slip back on my head, which I knew it wasn't supposed to do but didn't know how to fix it.

We weren't on the road for too long when we picked up a trail near the airport that runs parallel to 494. Riding next to the highway is not particularly fun as it is loud and dirty. The path started with a nice downhill glide but then turned into a long uphill climb. This was the start of my realization that training on old train routes, which may only have a 5% grade, is a lot different than training on a route that has hills. This was really driven home when, after riding through Mendota, Lilydale and into St. Paul, we rode up a long, steep bridge. Terri and I were bringing up the rear throughout the ride and she was behind me making suggestions about which gears to be in at which point of this challenging ascent. That was helpful, and an iron lung might have been helpful too. But somehow I made it without the need for Josh's EMT training to be put to use on the streets of St. Paul. These weekend training rides are not races and the riders stop every few miles to regroup and drink water and eat some carbs. Being the last one to the regrouping stops made me have the shortest amount of recovery time as well. And, note to self, Fig Newtons in a baggy that have been shoved in the little storage bag under the bike seat, do not make for cool snacking along the way.

The temperature and humidity were the warmest I have ridden in and, although I attempted to be prepared by attaching the additional home handyman special water bottle carrier that Hubby made from wide velcro strips to my bike, it was still not enough water. I did not realize this until the last four miles of the ride when the headache kicked in. Apparently retaining water like a camel isn't enough, one must drink it as well. Before I ride again on a hot day there will be some additional water bottle cages attached so I will have plenty of water handy. 

At about mile 18, I had to decide whether or not it was time to head back or if I could press on for a 35 mile ride. I opted for the heading back as the heat and hills and lack of an additional ride last week had slowed me down. As it turned out, the whole group decided to head back and we ended up with a 23.86 mile ride, which was plenty. The hill that was so easy to glide down at the beginning of the ride was my undoing at the end. I made it across the long part of the bridge but had no more mojo left for getting up the remainder of the slope. Terri and I walked up the last bit and that gave my toes enough time to regain circulation and my quads to uncramp. At the top of the slope we remounted and rode the last half mile or so back to the starting point.

One of the other things I learned today was that when you are riding in the sunshine you will get sunburned if you don't apply sunscreen. Guess who feels all hot and glowy on her arms and cheeks? After the ride was all done and we had said our farewells back in the parking lot where the ride had started, I hopped in  my car and cranked the air conditioning as I was sweaty - not a feeling I enjoy. When I arrived home and saw my face in the mirror there was white scaly gunk all over my face. Had all the salt leached from my body? Was this the look of congealed sweat? Whatever it was it had the power to exfoliate while being washed off to better show off my pink nose and cheeks.

Thanks to Daddio for taking care of the kiddos on a Sunday morning so I could participate in the training ride. It's taking the village (ooooh, some more 'H's'....Heidi's Helpers) to make this JDRF Ride possible for me.