Last Monday I woke up a little on the sore side, and as the day progressed I tightened up. So for the entire day I was looking forward to the ride to work out all the kinks, but I was busy with work so sitting at the computer for 14 hours didn't help. At about 10:30pm I got on the bike and did a 14 miler.

So what put me in this sore state? Another epic hill climb? A 12 hour ride? None of the above. I went and played ice hockey. The last time I put on skates was almost a year ago. The time before that was a year before that. In fact in the last 8 years I've played hockey under 10 times, so not enough to be in any playing shape. However, the bike training did help out.

I typically come out of my hockey hibernation once a year to play in a tournament. Since moving to Texas 3 years ago that tournament has been the 4th of July tourney in College Station put on by my buddy Buzz Elder. When I started working out in 2007 it was to get back in shape and go to Wyoming to play in the Rock Springs Drop-In Tournament. I didn't get up to the tourney this year, which I think happened this weekend. Maybe I'll get up there for the Fall tourney.

When I was out at Reimers Ranch riding with Jared I was noticing as I was slowing for a turn and then sprinting out of it it made me think of the flow of a hockey game. There is constant stopping and starting. Last Sunday I decided to forgo any riding and head over to Chaparral Ice on I-35 for some hockey. I figured it would be a good change of pace.

Aerobically my conditioning was excellent, I wasn't winded and I wasn't gasping for air. Unlike 2 years ago when I first played with Buzz where I thought I was going to die my first time on the ice. Last year wasn't that bad either, I'd been working out and was riding. This time out was a world of difference. I haven't felt this good skating from a condition standpoint since I was in high school/Juniors.

Beyond the recovery ride it was a low mileage week, kind of a recovery week I suppose. I'd spent the last 4 weeks prior hitting the hills fairly hard, in total I climbed 22,127.6 feet over the 4 week period. I had hoped to top it off with another 100K of hills ride, but it wasn't in the cards with as much stuff I have going on. I'm not sure what I'll focus on next. I'll probably try to get out on the ice for a few workouts till the hockey tournament in July, as well as through in some slide board workouts as well. 

No turning back now, I just parted with $33 to sign up for the Armadillo Hill Country Classic in Liberty Hill. I'm signed up for the 80 mile route. Who's in? Let's organize a bit and have a meet up before and head out together or something afterwards.

Since I was in San Antonio most of the week for work and driving back and forth I didn't get much riding in except for my ride in San Antonio. Sunday before I left for San Antonio I got out on Lime Creek and hit the hill. Talking to a few other riders I've heard the hill referred to as the 3 Sisters and the 3 Witches. Since the 3 Sisters to me is the mountain pass outside of Evanston, WY on the East side on I-80, I'll start calling it the The Witches. The Three Sisters in Wyoming is 7,470 feet compared to the 961 feet of the Limecreek Hill. I made it up the hill in 4:19, which is a new personal record, my prior best was 4:21.

On Friday I was able to get out again and this time I went to Volente and back. On this ride I set two personal records. I did the 20 miles in 1:06:16. That was 3 minutes better than my previous fastest time. The second record was my time up the Three Witches. This time I made it up in 4:16, so my previous mark didn't last long. I averaged 18.21 MPH for the ride, the section from the top of the hill to my turn around in Volente my average speed was 21 mph. On the way back on Anderson Mill a gardening crew turned onto Anderson in front of me, they didn't cut me off or anything, but they didn't get up to the 45 MPH speed right away. I was catching up to them at 30 mph.

Saturday I got out for a club ride with the Spin City crew. This was the first time I have ridden with them. I went out with the intermediate ride which was suppose to be between 15 and 19 mph, they also have a beginner ride. The ride was a 30 mile ride from Milburn Park to Liberty Hill. Out to Liberty Hill my average speed was 18.9 mph. The group of 10 got split into 2 groups. I was in the 2nd group with 2 other rides, about 5 miles from Liberty Hill I tried to close the gap and catch the 1st group. I thought one of the other riders was going to come along, but they slowed a bit on the inclines so I was on my own in the cross wind all the way to Liberty Hill. In my attempt to bridge the gap I was cruising between 24 and 30 mph. We turned around at the Country Store in Liberty Hill after a 5 minute break.

On the way back the group was getting split up again, but this time I was going to be more proactive and try to stay with the front group. Again I thought I was going to have help from one other rider but as I broke away to the next group she didn't come with me. I was on my own and this time into the wind. The front group of 5 were working together it looked like and as the wind started whipping it really started to sap my energy. I never did catch the front group and was on my own bucking the wind all the way from Liberty Hill to the stop light of 2243 and Bagdad. While I had to stop at the light the rest of the group caught up. I rode back to Milburn Park with the group. Facing the wind my average speed was 17.42 mph.

One thing I need to work on is my positioning in the group. On a few occasions I couldn't keep up with the group when they would surge ahead because we were riding 2 up and the person in front of me couldn't or wouldn't stay with them when the front would surge ahead. There were a few times I was better positioned by being on the outside that I could maneuver around other riders if I needed to.

Last week I was in San Antonio for business, on Monday I brought my bike in the hopes of riding that evening. I got out for a 15 mile ride along the Mission Trail. Last summer we took the family to the Alamo, but we didn't make it to the other Spanish Missions. These missions were part of the colonization system stretching across the Spanish Southwest of the 17th 18th and 18th centuries. The entire San Antonio Missions National Historical Park consists of Missions Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada. I only had a couple hours before dark so I only got to Missions Concepcion and San Jose.

The ride was great, I was expecting to hit downtown rush hour traffic as I started around 6pm. Durango Rd was the busiest on the route, but it wasn't bad at all, it's a 2 lane road and the cars got over. The rest of the route was peacful and on Mission Road there was a bike lane. I wish I had more time to get to the other 2 missions. I ended up only staying the night on Monday, we ended up driving back and forth between Austin and San Antonio the rest of the week.

See the route along with more photos on roadbikerides.com.

 

 

Sorry for the no post on the race, I got called out of town for work. Since I was heading out of town my plans for the race changed. Sorry Jared, but I decided to pass on the race and spend the day with the family before heading out.