Old Stage Kicked My Ass

Oh the plans I had for the weekend. Get my brick out of the way on Saturday and spend Sunday finishing up the garden. It was going to be glorious (here's where the sarcasm kicks in).

I was out way too late on Friday and had a little too much to drink. It was a guy from my team's last day and I was very sad to see him go. I had to drink my sorrows away with everybody else. I woke up early on Saturday and wouldn't say that I felt well rested. But part of me thought I could get started on my ride early and miss the winds. Um yeah. No so luck. It was windy by 9, and gale force shortly after. Matt strongly advised me to not ride outside. I agreed, partially for safety (I don't exactly like being blown into oncoming traffic), but mainly because it's so friggin discouraging. There's nothing worse that someone flying past you on their bike, facing the same head wind as you, and riding effortlessly and as though they have some giant force behind them pushing them along. Where's my giant force?

So instead, I spend all day in the front yard picking weeds, pruning bushes, and mulching. There were a ton of leaves left over from last fall that I never got around to cleaning up. It just seems like a much better day to wait until the windiest day of the year. There was crap blowing everywhere. I could barely move later that night - one would think that gardening is an endurance event based on how sore I felt.

I woke up early Sunday and was determined to get an early start since I had my family coming over for dinner. Something inspired me to ride Old Stage. The first ascent of the season. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It actually seemed like a good idea up until I got to the section where Lee Hill breaks off. And then I couldn't breathe. I huffed and puffed and huffed a lot more. I was at the really steep section right at the top when I realized why this felt so impossibly hard. Last year I switched my rear gearing to an 11/23. I can't remember what I had before: either 12/25 or 12/27 - I kept swapping. Anyhow, I like to leave 1 or 2 gears in reserve in case of an emergency (and also because it makes me feel a little bit stronger to know that I didn't have to go to my easiest gear). I was at the point where I felt like any second I'd fall over or start rolling backwards. I was going so slow and doing the side to side waving that I knew I'd fall over if I attempted to move my hand from the handlebar to the shifter to hit the panic button. And so I had to continue as though I was pedaling through almost dried cement and did make it to the top in one piece (though my lungs would probably disagree). The rest of the ride seemed easy in comparison, even with the wind that kept cropping up. Old Stage sucked, but that's what makes us stronger. My run off the bike didn't go so well, but I did have the Old Stage card so I played it and cut the run short.

Old Stage may have kicked my ass, but I think I kicked right back. In the end I realized that sometimes you just need to have that emergency stop out there, sort of like a safety net, even though you know you're not going to use it.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face...You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt