I'm not quite sure what I was thinking in picking that particular bike route for my first ride after 3 weeks off the bike. Yeah, I'm pretty fit and fierce, but surely a sensible rider would heed such warnings as an elevation profile showing two extensive climbs and the (very) subtle warnings about gravel sections of road. In hindsight, I should have turned around at the intersection of Bald Mountain Road and Maple Creek Road. That would have made for a lovely 30-miler, complete with a 2.6 mile uphill that zapped my legs. From that point on, the steep descent coupled with the stressful logging road sections had me committed to the full loop. Down that hill, and I was deep in the heart of B.F.E.
Long story short, somewhere in the early part of the 7.8 mile Butler Valley climb, my legs lost their power. All of their power. I wasn't bonked, as in the low blood sugar kind of bonking that leaves you jittery and light-headed and wanting to cry, but try as I might, my legs would not reach an acceptable cadence, even going downhill. I hovered between 4 and 7 miles per hour, up, flat, or slight downhill alike. I was constantly calculating the glacial pace of my progress against the route junctions. A turkey vulture circled overhead and I found this both amusing and disturbing, a cartoon-like reminder that I was in over my head. I stopped to eat some calories and was immediately attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes, sensing weakness and salt-encrusted flesh.
Finally, at 33.2 miles, I reached a road sign and did the math - at my 5 mph pace, I was going to be on the road for 4 more hours. I wouldn't get home until 7PM. And I was out of water. And food. And there was more uphill. I was one tenth of a mile away from throwing myself a major pity party. So I did what any sensible girl would do, I texted and called my boyfriend and asked him to come get me. And he's awesome, and so he did, and he didn't even make me feel bad for doing so. He brought me a PB&J, a banana, and my kombucha. He's rad.
This morning, my legs are hardly sore but my shoulders are a little beat from the rough pavement and gravel. Back on the bike tomorrow. But first, I better read the route sheet.
