I Know How She Feels

I know how she feels, It was about 3 in the afternoon and we had been hunting for rabbits in some really heavy cover all day. We had some really good chases and for the most part the dogs had all been running good. Maggie May, my oldest brother's youngest pup had decided she had had enough. She looked at this clump of frost covered weeds, turned around a cuople of times times and laid down. No amount of calling was going to get her going, neither was giving her dog biscuts. She sat up, ate one, then laid back down. It took putting her on a chain and leading her out of the woods to get her back to the van.

For me this is how the last week of riding has felt. 2 1/2 to 3 hour rides climbing hills in the wind. I am starting to long for spring. To be able to ride without all of the heavy clothes and the winter shoes. Today was a recovery day, an easy hour and a half. It did start raining about 10 minutes in and the wind was blowing pretty good, but all in all it was an enjoyable ride.

Flahute

"The type of rider who wins races where 125 riders start and one finishes—that’s a Flahute.

A Flahute thinks the Tour de France is just a bunch of long training rides. A real race is one where it’s pouring rain, it’s cold, the roads are treacherous, and the prize list is about the same as your 8-year-old neighbor’s allowance. When you’re a Flahute, that’s racing."

OK so I don't race but the point is the same.

Rolled out of bed this morning and listened to the wind howl. Thought to myself, it's blowing at 30 mph plus out there; there is no way that this would be a good day for a training ride. The wife calls from work and tells me one of the big trees at the corner is down, blown over in the storm last night. The TV is reporting flood warnings and how thousands are without power. Looks like a good day to spend inside, maybe ride rollers and spend the rest of the morning drinking too much coffee.

But no, at 8:15 the first text arrives: Flahute training ride today. No, it can't be...has Wangpig even looked outside? I try to tell him the wind is coming out of the west at 30 plus, but to no avail.

We roll out at a little after 9:30 for a 2 hour sufferfest into the wind. Legs feel good at the start but the bike feels off. Two hours of trying to figure it out, hill after hill into the wind.

Finally, we are at Wangpig's house readjusting the headset because I am starting to notice some nasty shudder every time I brake. Wow, you're getting another flat; it feels like you only have about 30 psi in this tire. Then and only then it dawns on me, I switched rims the other night and when I remounted the tire I never inflated it all the way, just enough to make sure I had not pinched the tube!