Anyways, last week started out with Tysabri and a 6 month check up at my neuros office. Everything is great on that front so I am cleared for another 6 months of Tysabri which is very exciting. Usually I feel great after Tysabri but I think rushing back to work after my appointment and another busy day Tuesday left my quite exhausted Tuesday night. So exhausted that I bypassed a 20 mile ride with Erik in exchange for dinner. Thankfully, he was happy to oblige to my request. He's learned that if I don't want to get on my bike, or cook, then I really don't feel good.
Wednesday we found ourselves traveling 4 hours north to Lake Placid for the day. We eventually met up with some of Erik's sibling and his father for some shopping and fireworks. Thursday included more driving, a afternoon iced tea date with my aunt and uncle at their camp in Sandy Pond and then dinner with my parents and their friends at a nearby restaurant overlooking the water. Unfortunately this restaurant had recently changed hands and I was less than impressed with their food or their service. When I asked if the fancy meat in the pasta dish could be subbed out (there was no vegetarian dishes on the menu!) and perhaps exchanged (even if it was extra) with maybe shrimp (I'm a pescitarian) she muttered "that's ridiculous, shrimp is meat....what a idiot" Of course she was standing right behind me when she muttered this and luckily everyone at the table heard her. So, instead of buying a dish for upwards of 25 dollars, I got a appetizer for 8 and called it a day. She is just lucky that I wasn't the one paying the bill because I would have left her my two sense when signing for it.
Friday evening we gathered our things for our last, long training ride we had mapped out. We were up and out the door early Saturday morning and had a 50 minute drive to our starting location.
[Side note: This was our planned ride. Actually, that's a lie. See that big hill around mile 48, that was not planned for. That was a wrong turn go horribly wrong. Two miles up that hill it started to downpour. During the third mile of that hill I threw in the towel. Erik was convinced we were on track but I was not. I wanted out, and so I quit. We sailed down the hill and insanely fast speeds and once we were back on track I decided to stick out the remainder of our ride instead of heading back to the car early. As Erik would later mention the only time he ever sees me angry, frustrated, yell or cry is on really big hills.]
On the way to our ride my stomach decided that it wasn't cooperate and I struggled to remain seated upright. When we pulled into the start location, Erik got the bikes ready and I sat hunched over in pain in the front seat. We were waiting for Erik's boss to show up since he was riding part of the ride with us, but I secretly hoped that he had forgotten so that we could call it quits. Of course, his boss showed up and we started to ride. Luckily the pain in my stomach subsided for the majority of the first twenty miles and it really only acted up when we stopped for a quick break. However, by mile 30 or so I was itching for a bathroom. We quickly made our way into a nearby town were I luckily found a much needed bathroom inside a cafe.
As we continued on, I felt worse and worse. My pace slowed significantly and then I started seeing double. We quickly stopped a t a pull off and Erik forced me to eat as I gagged down food. After a long than planned rest stop we cycled on. It started to sprinkle and we passed a group of cyclists dashing back around the reservoir to beat the rain. Luckily, Erik and I are both unphased by the rain, so we peddled on. Erik made a turn are we quickly came across a steep incline. Erik's boss who had left us miles and miles ago had mentioned the the ride back would be "fast with nice paved roads, wide shoulders and no real inclines." The shoulder on this road disappeared and after a quick discussion we went with Erik's choice. I was feeling to crappy to argue my point anyways. If you read the side note above, you know the outcome of this. I quit. I was dizzy, nauseous and defeated. With face was dripping with cold rain and tears and I was done.
However, the ride down the steep climb was a bit sketchy itself...the heavy downpour paired with cold cyclists made the ride difficult. My brakes were soaked and I had trouble scratching off speed. As my speed easily climbed above 30 I envisioned hitting one wrong bump and skidding across the pavement. Obviously, this is a great thing to think while cycling, but luckily we both made it down safely, just with a added 1 or 2 of water in our shoes.
By the time we made it back to the main and correct road, we found a shelter and consulted a map in a park pull off. I ate some snacks and it appeared that the rain had cooled by system down enough that I actually felt good. We continued on and our speeds picked up to my normal pace and we easily made it back to our car, however our mileage was only at 69. My goal for the ride was 80, so I made the executive decision to continue onward. We rode a mild out and back to bring our total mileage to 80.5 for the day and ultimately I could have continued to make it 100.
Knowing that I can complete 80 miles, even with stomach issues, makes me confident that I will have no problem finishing the century ride in less than two weeks. My goal though, it to not doubt my abilities so much, or get frustrated at Erik, and just to enjoy the ride and HAVE FUN.
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