5-Mile Scenery

As promised, here is a photo from my ride today over 5 Mile Hill. Although it is starting to get hot, the scenery more than makes up for it.

Yesterday, there was a ice cream ride hosted by Wheatland Wheelers. As usual there were three different rides, cruiser, social, and training ride. I went on the training ride thinking I was in better shape than the ice cream ride ~2 weeks ago. Somehow I managed up 2nd wheel back from the start of the ride. After I started my pull (we were in a double paceline), the person next to me, a rider for Audi, picked it up slightly and I started to suffer under the pace. Eventually I cracked and had to drift to the side. Although I tried to catch onto the back, I didn't have the energy and I got dropped within 2 miles of the start of the ride. :) Luckily the group slowed down and waited for me. I was very tempted to just turn around and go home at that point. After that, I avoided pulling and was able to stick on until a break group took off and we formed a chase group, at which point I got dropped off the back again. Luckily there was a regroup point within 800 meters of where I was dropped, so I caught on once again. After that, I was able to stick with the pack for the rest of the ride (~12 miles). It was my first pack finish with Wheatland Wheelers/Allegro Cyclery training ride!! I was quite ecstatic AND I got free ice cream even!

Hot Days

Walla Walla has finally started to warm up. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been blessed with lower temperatures and cooling rain. Today was the first time that I biked mid-day, and ironically there was a high of 89.5F today. I have been joining in on the Allegro Cyclery/Wheatland Wheelers rides, and those start at 7:00 AM, 7:30 AM, or 6:15 PM, in order to avoid the heat. When I started my ride today, I quickly realized how hot it was going to be, but luckily the person I was riding with wanted to go easy, so we just cruised up Mill Creek, enjoying the trees and shade once we hit the slow, gradual hill to the turn-around point. My biking partner was actually biking to a Chemistry July 4th potluck, so I got a nice 2.5 hour break before I headed back by myself in order to avoid biking at twilight. It was very nice to have a 2.5 hour break where I could stock up on food and (attempt) to satiate my ever-hungry body. Because my riding partner challenged me to a time trial of sorts, where he was going to come back the next day and attempt to beat my time down Mill Creek, I started off hard and finished harder. Over my past XC seasons and cycling season, I have noticed a trend where I seem to get lazy when its hurts or gets hard. I didn't use to be that way, but as I get stressed out and tired, my body physically shuts down and I lack the mental energy to rally. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I have started to see a reversal in this. Although it hurts, I now have the mental drive to push myself beyond the pain. On the way down Mill Creek, I only briefly dipped under 20 mph before rallying and bringing my speed back up to 22-25. This was SUPREMELY satisfying, just like the 56 mile ride 2.5 weeks ago. Although I haven't gotten any pictures of the amazing wheat fields yet, they are incredible on every ride, and next time I post, I promise that I will post some breathtaking pictures.