Riding with Katie on RtN

That would be my buddie Katie. Not Kate my lawyer. Not Katie from Boulder. Not Kate from work, or Kat from an ex-work, or Kate from a different ex-work. Or Kate the massage therapist. Not Cath from Fernie.

Now that we've got that sorted out, we can tackle the next misconception. "with". We were together for a bit, then we started the long hill. I was rapidly left behind.

Still, I'm very pleased, riding hard trying to fall less behind. Pushing hard on the hills, trying to spin. Trying not to think about the long run last night. Trying to keep up meant getting to 22X in well under 17 minutes, which I think is a record for me. Normally I take it a bit easier, getting the legs warmed up. Zoomed down to the bottom of the Road in 57:xx minutes, which might be a record as well. It was hot. We were riding late morning. Going south it was pretty still, so there was a slight wind, I guess.

For once I had to come to a nearly complete stop at the 4 way stop. Pickup truck driver came to a complete and total stop. Then he made sure he had all his luggage from the under the seat in front of him and the overhead compartment. Then he folded his seatbelt neatly and who knows what else. Then he slooowwwwlllllyyyyyy turned the corner. Bastard geezer. If I'd know he was gonna do that I'd have gone around on the outside.

Going north again was a bit windier. Still hot. I'm working hard here, maybe not quite as hard as before, since I was beginning to feel it a bit. By the time I got to the right turn, Katie was already on her way back. I'd hoped to keep her in sight, but I'd have needed a telescope. She went back down to 549 again, while I pushed hard towards home. A new record was within reach. I got lucky at 22X, and again at the 37st lights.

Had to laugh as I was turning left at the lights. There was a guy wearing a bike jersey with a bike in the back of his car at the head of the line. I was up and accelerating hard. He kept looking at me, then looking at his speedometer. I think he was deliberately accelerating slowly enough that he could see where I got to. About 45 Kph was enough. Down the hill, across the bridge, up the hill into the neighbourhood, almost speeding through the school zone, and

1:58:12!! Pedaled another few minutes of easy spin to cool down. Last year I did it in 1:59:32 and it damn near killed me. Today was a strong training ride, and my legs still feel good.

Then into the (dun, dun, DAHHHH) core. I worked through it all, and only at the end of the list did I fully realized what the 4X at the top meant. That was a struggle. Failed on side planks pretty quick; my shoulders were not liking them at all. Then the front plank failed. But not the pushups; I got through all of those. The rows, and single leg squats (not too deep) and butt lift were all good. More stretching.

Then we had coffee and a very nice chat!