Wallingford Plus Plus

i went for my "weekly" early-morning bike ride today with tara. since kaury was not in attendance, we decided to do a "harder" route: the "Wallingford" ride. and, if we were feeling up to it, we could tack on an extra 4 hilly miles to complete the "Wallingford Plus" ride.

15 miles out, we get to an intersection and tara asks me how i'm feeling. "let's do it!" i say. i'm feeling pretty good. we then go up a rather long hill. "OK, now we'll do the extra part." huh, i feel less OK, but i'm not about to wuss out now. i pedal on ahead and miss the turn, but realize it and turn around. as i'm stopped, i fall over, because i've "forgotten" that i've only clipped out with one foot. motherfucker. this is the second time in 2 rides with tara that i've done this. i feel dumb, and i land squarely on my elbow and it HURTS. to the point that i'm nauseous and dizzy. but on with the hill.

tara informs me there are 3 parts to the hill. i counted 2 or 4, depending on what you consider a part. but any way you tally it up, it SUCKED. i thought i was a good "climber" but it turns out i'm good at rolling undulations and not actual hills. motherfucker. plus my gears were messed up from crashing twice recently. i have never so wanted to get off a bike and walk it up a hill.

at the base of the final "part" we stop at an intersection. i am seriously ready to pass out. i feel nauseous, light-headed and short of breath. tara gives me part of a clif bar which i choke down because i know i'll bonk if i don't. i actually feel a bit better once we start moving again (thankfully there were no more major climbs/hills until the very end of our ride) and actually feel good, probably once the clif bar hit me.

side note: i bought a camelback on tuesday, after nearly shriveling up during my tri on saturday, and it is AWESOME. it's probably the only reason i made it through the ride 'cause even at 8am this morning, it was already hot and humid. mothernaturefucker.

we take a wrong turn -- or more likely, we just never knew the way we were supposed to go -- and end up on rte. 17 much farther out than we intended. that ended up being an extra 6 miles or so, for a grand total of....39 miles. which i shall here forth call the "Wallingford Plus Plus" ride. bitches.

on the way back, a group of 3 bikers turns in front of us as we're heading back on hartford turnpike road. tara whispers to me, "that guy up there is a professional!" i am excited that i am keeping up with them until i realize they are probably just coasting. we all get stopped at a light together, say hello. then the light changes and they take off up the hill. like literally leave us in their dust. i am humbled...and determined to become a better climber & biker. unless that entails losing weight or eating less ice cream. then forget it.

my knees and ass hurt...i should really bite the bullet and get my bike aligned.

oh, and i learned that kaury did a spinning class for 3 months this winter and that's probably why she was a better "novice" biker than me the first time we all went out together. not because i suck.