A recovery ride in the wind and sun

I've been a bit of a slug this last week. A lot of a slug, actually, and it was good. Beautiful weather out and I've hardly been out in it at all, except for some yard work. Today I felt like riding for the first time in a while, even though my legs, especially the left, still felt weak, and kind of crampish.

With my skin and colouring I have to be careful about getting sunburnt. It happens very easily. I've just finished working through a huge tube of SPF 50 cream. This stuff works ok, but it's a pain in the butt to put on, feels really greasy, and bugs stick to it. I've sometimes thought of myself as a mobile fly strip when I'm out riding. Are any of you old enough to remember that stuff, dark orange, you pulled it out of the container like a strip of film, and hung it from the ceiling? Everything stuck it it.

Now I've got an SPF 50 spray. It's Banana Boat Ultra Mist, UVA and UVB. It sprays on really nice. My skin actually looks sort of reflective in places, which could be a cool effect if I put enough of it on, I guess. Today was just a short ride, but it seems to work really well. Certainly much less muss and fuss than the cream. Even better, it's the same price as the 30 ml pump spray I bought at a tri store, and this is 180 ml. I suppose I should keep track of how many applications I get. (Yes, Julie, Susi, and Jenna, ANOTHER spreadsheet! I love spreadsheets! Bahahahahaha)

I didn't want to go too far, or too hard today. Headed down 24 st to 22X. This is a much better route than James McKevitt. From there pushed west, then south a bit on 22, turned around at 50 minutes, then back the same way. Going back 24 st isn't as good. It's a tough left turn onto 24, and there is a series of left turns all the way back.

Even though I started easy with a good warm up, and was heading into a pretty good wind, my average speed was well up around 28 Kph on the way out. Coming back with the wind was fun. There was lots of other riders out; most of them waved. Once back in the neighbourhood I settled down to an easy spin to cool down a bit and try to flush out my legs. Even so, I'm really pleased with how it went. My left leg still felt a bit weak, and I had one good twinge during the ride. I think the ride did it good. Stretched and massaged it after the ride.

45.6 K ride
1:33 elapsed, or so, since I didn't stop the watch right away.
29.5 Kph average speed
81 rpm average cadence overall

I was looking for a steady ride today, moderate effort, mainly trying to spin smoothly. My spin was much much better today, way smoother than earlier in the week. In comparison to Chinook I wasn't working anywhere near as hard, and was going much quicker. Except for a couple hard pushes up hills to maintain speed, my breathing was under control the entire time. I felt relaxed and happy to be out. I could have gone on further at the same pace, though I'm not sure how much longer. I'd only brought enough water and nutrition for a 2 hour ride. I finished off the Clif's bars I didn't eat during the race, and you know, they went down just fine.

No weekly summary, since the numbers are too small to be writing down. And yes, now I'm planning on doing the Canmore Oly. The final straw was finding out a buddy of mine is moving that day. Sorry Gord. We've got a B&B arranged in Summerland for IMC, and I've got my volunteer number. My thought was to ride part of the course on Sat, and volunteer on race day.


What now? I'm going out to barbeque some duck breasts rubbed with brown sugar, maple, hickory, beechwood, sea salt, roasted garlic, mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, and ginger, then finished off with a honey lime and orange sauce. Which wine will go with that? Decisions, decisions.