Burned to a crisp after yesterday’s road ride. For whatever reason, I thought my fair, Irish skin was “tan enough” to go without sunscreen. Chris and I road out toward Afton, Minnesota, for something hilly. We did 30.5 miles at an average of 16.4 mph, which is pretty good since we were up against an 11 mph headwind on the way back. I feel pretty good today, but definitely should have consumed more water.
I focused on making smooth, circular pedal strokes, increasing my cadence and getting up out of the saddle. All in all, I felt strong and made it a goal to stay with Chris the entire time. My shifting has improved 100 percent since last year, now I need to work on body mechanics.
Usually we see some interesting stuff on the road when we go that way. Calling out the obstacles becomes a bit of a game-flip flop, dead possum, horse poop-but yesterday the road was pretty clear, and all I saw was a padlock. I love finding the weird stuff because I enjoy creating stories about how it ended up there.
We encountered some riders I recognized from the track. I had to laugh because I can now recognize other riders anywhere when they are in their team kits. However, clean them up and put them out in civilization, and I wouldn’t have a clue.
Those are my random ramblings.
