Saturday, April 14, 2007

Beautiful Day



It was 62 degrees today, or something like that. For me, that means shorts and short sleeves and a ride. Back in Minnesota, I would have worn knee warmers and long sleeves. Somehow I have adjusted to the climate here-- although the locals tend to be more bundled up- like wearing jackets. I headed out, thinking I might bike around to Bersagel in a loop, but some random biker guy caught me, and I followed his route for an hour or so, and we had a nice talk. He was a doctor who lives south of Sandnes, and is training to follow the Tour de France this year- practicing for the alps. He knew the elevation of every point on this ride. I had anticipated a quick hour to hour to ninety minute ride, and only had one bottle. I wasn't ready for these thousand foot climbs that he knew about, but it was fine. The weather was great, I was feeling OK, and he was wanting to take it easy. My only worry was my hydration, and he ended up sharing half his extra bottle with me. The best part was to learn of a different route- and this set of roads didn't see much traffic. It felt good to have an extended hard ride, and I feel like an uncaged animal riding the road bike- rather than the slow mountain bike with a heavy backpack carrying my laptop and work gear. Still, I don't think I will be in any condition to race on May 1. My parents will be here for most of May, which will likely rule out the North Sea Race. Just having Julian around makes racing impractical right now, and I am completely OK with that. There actually are more important things in life.

3 comments:

Regular Guest said...

That's a nice part from 18 to 20 :)

filtersweep said...

No kidding. On my altimeter, it was 1000ft elevation gain--- in a rather short distance.

augiepete said...

I recently started biking home from work, longer than before, but not like you ride. 12.5 miles, 2 good climbs, and mostly bike path and wide UNUSED sidewalk. I actually go past Cassidy's school. So will be ready for some rides with you when you "finally" come out!!!