Ride For Heroes

Well, I partici;ated in my first group ride of the year. I had initially intended to run in the H.A.N.K. (Helping Another Next of Kin - a foundation whose purpose is to financially help the families of wounded or killed police officers in Tarrant County) 4 Mile Run this weekend. But, my bike wreck a few weeks back sort of set my knees back on the recovery schdule. I felt like I might complete the run, but would be in lots of pain.

So, at the last moment I signed up for the Ride For Heroes. This event is a fundraiser to help the volunteer fire departments of east Parker County. I thought that if I couldn't participate in an event for one good cause, I'd do another. Keith Hollar had really recommended this event and said that is well put together and worth doing. There are several courses you can choose from: 8, 20, 32, 40, 52, 64, and 75 miles. Being the stud athlete (if you can't tell, this is an example of that bit of nasty humor they call sarcasm) that I am, I rode the 75 mile course. Now bear in mind, I haven't ridden anything longer than 40-50 miles since October. And, I hadn't done those nearly often enough. But, "I can gut it out."

Well I finished, but "gut it out" is the right term. The ride was a lot hillier than I expected with a lot of long slopes. There was also a good bit of wind. Somewhere around mile 50 I started thinking, "I'm gonna have to call someone to come get me." I kept repeating the mantra, "Please don't cramp!" to my legs through a series of particularly nasty hills. At the 60 mile rest stop, I sat down for about 5-10 minutes and just chilled out. After that, I felt a lot better and finished up with a lot more speed and power than I thought I had left. This was a wakeup call. I am going to have to seriously get training before I do any competitive rides this year. I rode some this winter, but not nearly enough.

All that being said, I perversely enjoyed myself. As I've heard someone say, "A bad day on the bike is better than a good day in the office." Also, the ride was as well put together and organized as Keith had said.