Augusta Ride

The trio of Blaine, the Diesel and myself conversed on Friday afternoon and determined that 5 am was a good departure time. Their bikes were loaded and we quickly loaded Mulan on the rack and were off for a one day training adventure in Augusta, Ga. The plan was to look at the swim and run courses and ride the bike course. As day-break came is was overcast with a 40% chance of rain.

We stopped at a Waffle House in which I put 3 eggs, 3 glasses of water, 2 cups of decaf coffee, and a pecan waffle with butter and syrup in the tank. Blaine had the same but two eggs with wheat toast and the Diesel had hash browns instead of waffle. She took a quarter of Blaine's. With tanks full we pressed on to Augusta.

Arrived at T1 and view river. Lazy, smooth and very dark in color. Run course thru town is shaded by a canopy of old oak trees and flat. It's a double looper and good for the spectators.

Decided not to unload at T1 to keep people honest. Drove down road about a mile and parked at gas station. Good thing......bathrooms. A necessity for myself race or training day. My body does not discriminate.

Unloaded bikes, pump tires, filled bento boxes, grabbed fluids and loaded, stuffed GU's in shirt back pockets, put on helmets/glasses and looked at map. Off we went without a care in the world.

Maps are a great thing, especially those with street names and numbers on them. It is even better when the roads have street names and numbers on them in which some of them did not. Thus the 56 mile ride ended up being a 65 mile ride.

Not all can be blamed on the roads and maps. The map reader (me) can take a lot of the blame. First make map bigger to read easier. Second, time spent in the car should have been with familarizing mself with turns and street names and numbers. Highlight route, especially quick changes.

The course was hilly and Mulan and myself were full of energy. I am sure that Blaine and Julie got tired of hearing my voice. But I was so excited to be out with them.

The Compass ride

With Leah getting ready to move in into her new apartment at Clemson this weekend Mulan decided to swap Saturday's outing with Friday's. You see Friday was suppose to be a recovery day....rest, only a short 30 minute swim. I looked at her and understood....I could have a rest day moving chairs, tables, bed....etc on Saturday and she decided to stay home and have a recovery day. She did at least inform me of the changes on Thursday morning as I came in from my 1 hour elliptical adventure, followed by an hour of resistance training.

So I loaded on the carbs and protein a little more. Took in some extra fluids and by the time I had layed my head down felt pretty good about my state of being for our outing.

Up at 5 am, 4 egg whites, big bowl of cream of wheat, couple glasses of water, vitamins, cup of regular coffee, dress, stretch, load Mulan down. Weighed myself for hydration to see if enough. It's not rocket science, more like common sense. Oh yea I weighed 145.2 lbs. Her load consisted of 6 GU's (1 for every 30 minutes), 56 ounces of fluids (Accelerade/whey protein), and one Cliff bar cut in half. Brother-in-law Blaine taught us that one. There are no easy open packaged food on the road. Cell phone, money and zip lock bag of Chamois Butt. The Diesel (Sister-in-law Julie) I give credit to the money......she always picks up something on the long rides. Heck, the only rides she does are long!

It was light at 7 am, but the fog did not lift until 9:45. The ride today was to be 4-5 hours and followed by a 40-50 minute run. So Mulan headed south down HWY 378 to Sumter to the Compass and back home. Hills out to the flat lands and then hills back home.

Mulan took the lead as see always does and I draft behind her wheel. We road the hills out at a steady cadence of 90 and I kept telling her this was an endurance ride, not a race and to pace. Stick with the plan. I consumed fluids and GU's every 30 minutes as planned. We managed to survive the road construction in the valley of the swamp (7 mile stretch with one lane road). Construction crews were working on all 5 bridges. As I passed each bridge, I think that the first crew called the second and the second, the third, etc.....because I had more workers looking each bridge I crossed.

We crossed the Valley of the Swamp and we made our last climb up Statesburg Hill. Did some woop-de-do's and into the flat lands. Cadence was going good, riding the small ring and the fog lifted. The wind picked up, but it was a slight cross wind. Things were looking good. People going by with cars beeping the horns. Some with bikes, some with bike racks and some wondering what we were doing out in the middle of, well nowhere. She did not mind, I did not mind, drinking fluid, popping GU's, relieving the bladder while ride and life is good.

We rolled into the Compass restaurant after about 2 hours 25 minutes. Acknowledged the Compass in the U-turn fashion and popped over I-95 and into the Country Store. Mulan stayed outside enjoying the morning air while I had gone inside to get supplies to fill the tank.

I choose a large bottle of Smart water because that is what Leah my oldest daughter drinks and heavens knows she is a lot smarter than I'll ever go'in ta be. The next thing I grabbed was a Red Bull, because that is what my niece Tyler drinks and she is always loaded with energy. Also because I had one before and it put me on turbo (for a while). This time I choose the sugar free. Finally a snicker bar with almonds. The Diesel always gets chocolate or something sweet on her long rides. I walked up to the counter with my booty and the cashier rang it up. She then proceeded to place it in a bag. I told her that was not needed, that the tank was on empty and and I needed the fuel to get back to Columbia. The expression on her face was, well, her jaw hit the floor, eyes bulged out and some noise came from her mouth. I did not take offense to it, it may have been a complement were she comes from.

Stepped outside to eat the snickers, fill water bottles (56 oz) and drink a 20 oz sugar free Red Bull. Grabbed zip lock of Chamois and back inside for restroom time. The all wise Blaine I can thank for that. Back outside and behind Mulan again all in 5 minutes time. The cashier stepped out to see me off, but did not say anything in her native tongue as before.

The wind had changed a little with it giving us a push, sometimes. Then something happened the sun popped out. I looked down at the speed and reminded Mulan of endurance, cadence and sticking to the plan. She informed me that she was and that I and that other person had been drafting the whole time.

What other person? We had gone +70 miles and when did we pick them up? Who was this stranger? Why did they not speak? Then I looked back and did not see anyone. I looked back again and no one. I asked Mulan are you loosen it? Her reply was that as I looked back over my right shoulder they had passed on the left. What no! "My you left"? She then said to enjoy the ride. The stranger was pulling, I am drafting and you are drafting on two now.

I looked down at the road and saw Mulan's tire ahead of me and me behind her as normal. Then I saw the stranger in front of us with long legs, dark and lean pulling us forward to the hills. I did not argue, just stayed aero and kept in cadence with them.

The flat lands were behind us, the Red Bull "sugar free" was just fluids. No kick! Next time I'll get the real stuff........Tyler. Rode down Statesburg Hill into the Valley of the Swamp. No construction and on to the more aggressive hills. We could have taken 267, one short hill (2.2 miles of continuous climb and then flat land), but you only live once. Rode up 378 north home and the trio pulled into the curb at the front of our driveway. Trio being the stranger, my shadow, Mulan and myself. I then left Mulan at the house.

Changed shoes, drank 16 more oz of fluids and went for 6 mile run. Yes I did and no pain! Will only do one a week until next doctor visit. It was good. It was slow. I took it all in. Every step, breath and beat of the heart. Legs did not bother me until I stopped at the house and Shaddow came and went as he pleased. This was due to me being in the moment.

I wish that Blaine, Leah, Julie and Tyler could have physically been there. I could hear, see, smell you guys the whole time. I do not recall ever having a force of people so predomiate in my mind. I love you all more than you will ever imagine.

Once home, I stretched, weighed myself at 140.8 lbs. +160 oz fluids, 6 GU's, Cliff bar, snickers all for less than 6 hours aerobic time. Then toasted you all with a large glass of chocolate milk and ate a turkey on wheat sandwich with tomato, brown mustard and avocado. Legs are really hammered. I do not know how you guys do it.

It was a good day! Thanks be to God!

Mulan and I Met

We met on the afternoon of June 1, 2007, at the bicycle shop. She apparently was there waiting for someone. I did not know her name then. She did not acknowledge me when I approached her. Her dark skin and blue highlights were easy on my eyes. I looked over all the curves of her body. She looked dainty to me, but I had a feeling deep down inside she had a lot to offer, both in knowledge and sheer physical strength.

Two weeks later, I returned to the bike shop. And she was there again. Still waiting. So i got up the courage to ask her out for a spin. After about an hour, we went back to the bike shop, and I brought her home with me. That was June 14, 2007. Since that day, she has taken the lead on every one of our outings. She has taught me that if the mind is willing, the body will follow.