Saturday, November 10, 2007

I hurt. All over.

And I'm so tired. But I had a great ride today! I couldn't convince anybody to join me on my ride today, so I went alone. Since the ride was all mine I decided to stretch it out. I'm really trying to keep up my miles, or rather boost them back to summer riding levels, for the winter. So far the weather's been pretty good. It'll take a little more commitment when the weather turns ugly.

Gregg bought himself a Garmin Edge quite a while back. He didn't really like it though. It never quite measured up to his Polar for training functions and displays, and he decided he didn't really need the GPS functionality. So I've inherited it. :) (Yay me! A shiny new toy!)

So the commentary on today's ride ...
Gorgeous day! I really couldn't have hoped for better weather. My feet did get pretty frozen, but that's not unusual. It didn't seem that cold out, but I should have worn my booties anyway.
The only other people I saw, for the first two hours or so, was a couple riding down Uproute with their dogs as I was riding up.
Gregg suggested this ride at the last minute, and gave me directions by phone since I'm not familiar with the area. Naturally I managed to take a couple of wrong turns. But I didn't get too far off.
The trails are still in near-perfect condition. It hasn't rained much, so aside from a few slick muddy spots here and there they're really ideal.
As I came down Horse trail I started seeing more signs of (human) life. A father/son duo riding up Upper Horse, and a couple walking a couple of dogs, a workman, and an equestrian all at the bottom of Lower Horse. After about three hours of riding by myself it was kind of weird to see so many people.

Enough commentary. Thanks to Gregg's Garmin, here's the ride:


Of course it's much cooler in Google Earth, but doesn't provide the ride data. (I can send you the file if you want to open it up in Google Earth). 2 1/2 hours of ride time, almost 3 1/2 hours real time; 20 1/2 miles, averaging a little over 8 mph; average heart rate of 166 bpm, with a max of 190 bpm.

When I got back I made myself a shake of water, frozen strawberries, a banana, and some Recoverite. Yummy! My new favorite post-ride treat. Then I drew a nice hot epsom salt bath, threw in the spa jet bath mat, and soaked and stretched. I'm still so tired I can barely move my typing fingers. Soooo tired. But it was an awesome ride!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, it's me! Long lost and recently returned from the winter wonderland of Michigan. I am sooo jealous. One of these days, I will be able to play instead of work, work, work. Well, that is what I am going to school for. Play money! :) That looks like it was a beautiful ride!

Lucretia

Stephanie said...

Wow! Amazing to hear from you! In response to your profile (I Googled), I have a couple of friends who've gone into accounting, and I've worked with a few auditors from accounting firms. Accounting isn't nearly as boring as it sounds to most people. Feel free to look me up some time. Corvallis is a beautiful place for a day trip.