Rarely do we find ourselves with a week of recreational and social engagements that keep us running for an entire week, but last week was a perfect storm that had us bike touring, birthday partying, awards dinnering, goodbye partying, wedding attending and family gathering until we're just about worn out.
Sunday and Monday last week were the only two days that I was available to do the 4th Annual Argus Leader Tour de Kota. I've done at least two days each year and was looking forward to this year's ride, although with a little trepidation. Sunday dawned idyllic with slight sprinkles, little wind and a good, first day of a bike tour buzz as riders left Sioux Falls for Mitchell. Unfortunately, I only got to experience the atmosphere at the check in since I wasn't going to be able to leave until after leading worship for church.
By the time I left, it was 1:30, the wind had come up just a little and shifted so that it would be in my face the entire way. I felt pretty good getting started though and plugged through the towns of Hartford and Humboldt with little trouble. The next stretch was a little windier and I started to regret not having anybody else around. I mean, is it really a bike tour if you are the only one riding? Not only were there no riders, but all of the food stands and communities had packed everything up and there were few signs remaining to indicate what kind of activity had taken place earlier. I met up with Amy to grab some food and top off the drinks and was already pretty knackered from the wind.
I knew that leaving so late I was running the risk of higher winds with no one to share the work with through drafting and that I very well could be the last person into the campground that day. That nearly proved true, but I caught my first "riders" about six miles before Mitchell. They were walking at the time and told me they had left Sioux Falls at 7:30 in the morning. One of the guys was having leg problems and they were plodding along as best they could. I'd ridden the last stretch of the ride late last summer when we were in Mitchell for Amy's grandma's birthday celebration, so I anticipated the valley and final uphill into town and was surprised as I came down the hill on the east side of the valley to see that there were two more riders struggling up the hill on the west side. With a couple of rabbits to chase, I put in a little more effort and managed to pass the two riders about a quarter of a mile before the campground. The last day that I rode on last year's Tour, I wound up being the first rider in by a good hour. This time, I was nearly the last after a late start and 70 miles of riding by myself into a headwind.
I rolled into camp and caught up with a few friends from Sioux Falls and from previous Tours before calling Amy to have her pick me up. We went over to her dad's for dinner in the back yard and then over to Leigh Anne's where we were spending the night. The kids got to sleep on a hide-a-bed which Maia thought was the coolest thing she'd ever seen (she talked about it every 15 minutes that she was awake) and we crashed pretty hard.
The next day was another 70 mile day to Chamberlain with an optional loop to make it 100 miles, but talk of a west wind had made most riders consider bagging the century ride long before they set out. I was more fearful of how my body was going to react after only being off the bike for 12 hours. Leigh Anne got me started with a good breakfast at 6:00 and I left from her house at about 6:30.
The wind was already strong out of the west leaving most riders struggling along at 9-10 mph which was a little slower than I wanted to go. I was plugging along at 12-13 mph and looking for a group going slightly faster that I could join up with to share the load and pound out the miles. 20 miles into the ride, that group had not yet materialized and it was all I could do to hold 12 mph with my heart rate consistently in the 150's. I had the realization that I ride because it's fun and I wasn't having fun anymore. I had already done one full day into the wind and I would be out there for another four hours at my current rate of speed suffering like a dog. I decided that I'd turn around at Plankinton and head back since Amy and the kids were still in Mitchell. I made the turn around and passed about a million riders that I'd already passed from the opposite direction and made them all wonder what glory it would be to ride with the wind instead of against it. I looked down at one point and was riding effortlessly at 26 mph with my heart rate at 129 and for the first time on this year's Tour de Kota, had some fun.
I know, there are those that will deride me for being a quitter, but I've done communal suffering before and have my own war stories to tell and decided that this just wasn't a ride worth finishing. Had I been doing the next day's ride I would have absolutely plugged on and ridden to Chamberlain, but since I was heading back to Sioux Falls that night, it just wasn't worth the struggle.
I arrived back at Leigh Anne's about an hour after I had turned around and hit the shower and hung out for conversation for a bit. We decided to get together with Casey and Heidi and their family for lunch and had a good time hanging out with them for awhile. We then headed back to Sioux Falls. I had the realization that we probably saved about 8 gallons of gas by not going to Chamberlain, so I suggested that we take the kids to "Kung Fu Panda" when we got back to town. The kids were excited and we actually managed to salvage a pretty decent family day out of a pretty crappy bike tour day.
Still to come: Maia's birthday party, the Scheels Awards Dinner, Nich's farewell party, Josiah's wedding and a trip to the farm for Father's Day
No comments:
Post a Comment