It wasn't the weather. The snow and sleet and rain held off until Torchwood Rd (55mi/88km). It continued alternating from one to the other until the end, but our torsos were mostly warm and tolerable.
It wasn't the new hills. Our beloved route owner has modified the route slightly to avoid a few miles of flatland (ha!), but we managed.
We were slow from lack of fitness. I've been able to stay barely rando by bike-commuting 2-4 times a week. Unfortunately, I stopped two months ago when I got busy at work and winter arrived.
So when traffic got absolutely nuts on the chicane called New Hill Olive Chapel Rd (107mi/172km) and we had three near misses in the rain, I diverted us onto the Tobacco Trail. FAIL #2. It was a muddy, rutty disaster. We slogged 5 miles (8km) north, struggling to stay upright, then bailed with 12 miles (19km) and less than an hour to go.
I aired a few choice grievances in the yard today (see right photo).
Must squeeze in another attempt. R-21 awaits.
1 comment:
I am torn between commiserating with you and being excited that you've finally taken my advice to do some non-credit cycling. ;-)
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I do know that you & JayJay have been doing some non-credit, non-R rides (e.g., y'all checked out that "coffee ride" in segments to determine if you could reasonably expect to finish on time). But it was too hard to resist reminding of my infamous comment to one of your blog posts several months ago.
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Allez! Allez!
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Oh, btw, I'm liking your beta Permanent map very much. I have found that it is easier to use to get a "feel" for how long and how concentrated (or not) Permanents in other states / regions are. I think it is because one can reduce the long Permanent list to shorter, more manageable lists -- and of course, visuals are always great.
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