more from Texas

I haven't been taking my camera with me on the rides...too much stuff in my pockets already. So for now, the pictures of our nightly festivities (or lack thereof) will have to suffice. So, here we are doing laundry and drinking wine. There were signs posted inside the laundromat that said "no alcoholic beverages" and there were security cameras, so we were forced to drink outside...actually, it was just nice to sit outside and drink wine. So after the brutal windy ride on Sunday, we decided to do the shorter 38 mile ride on Monday. It was still really windy, and the temperatures had dropped, but it was sunny and the ride was relatively short, and it turned out to be a great recovery ride, which I desperately needed. There were only about 30 riders doing this ride, so we started out with the Bellas leading the pack. Then a few bellas took a wrong turn, while I followed the rest of the pack. I kept expecting to see the other Bellas catch up, but they were no where to be seen. So not wanting to ride in the wind, I tucked in behind 3 of the people at the front of the group. I stuck with them as long as I could, but then they dropped me on a big hill. It was so windy...I really didn't want to ride alone, but when I looked back, no one was in sight. Then I turned off the main road to find the next 10-15 miles were a series of little, painful hills out in the middle of no-where...it wasn't uncommon to have to wait for sheep to cross the road (there are a lot of "loose livestock" signs and cattle guards around here). I didn't see another cyclist for a really long time...I was beginning to think I had a missed my turn. Finally, another guy rode up to me. He was clearly much stronger than me, so I was afraid he'd be gone in a matter of seconds, but it turned out he didn't have a map or directions with him...and I did. So I had someone to ride with, and someone to block some of the wind for me. He was from Dallas. When we finally got to a main road, Marjie caught up with us. Then we had to climb a huge-ass hill, so Marjie and I tucked in behind Mr. Dallas and he was kind enough to ride slowly up the hill and block the wind for us. At the top of the hill, at mile 25 of 38, was a little restaurant where we stopped and filled up our water bottles and had a snack. Angie, Paula, and Pam (Paula's sister) met up with us here. When we headed back for town, we finally had a tailwind. It was crazy...it took me almost 3 hrs to do the 38 mile ride--but the first 25 miles took about 2.5 hrs, and the last 13 took about 25 minutes. Climbing the little steep hills in the headwind, I would literally be going about 5-9 mph. Going back into town with the Bellas with a tailwind on a slight downhill we were often going 35 mph. It was an interesting ride. While my body was still sore from the previous two rides, I finally felt good after this ride...if nothing else, it was good for morale. And when we got back to the hotel, Lieselot and I discovered that the hot tub was finally hot...so we soaked for a good hour. Then we all went out for a huge Mexican meal, did laundry, and went to bed. I'm actually sick of eating. In the morning, I force myself to eat a big meal just so I don't bonk in the middle of a ride. And by the time we're done riding for the day, I'm so hungry that I can't get food fast enough. And I don't even feel guilty about having Ho-Ho's as my post-ride snack.

Today, we did a hilly, 66 mile ride. It was sunny again, but cooler, relatively speaking. I felt good for the first part of the ride, even when climbing. But as usual, the second half didn't go as well. Scott, one of the others from MN, has an altimeter of some sort on his bike, and he said we climbed 3200 feet today...the way my body feels, I believe it. We (Paula, Pam, Angie, Birchwood Annie, and me) were out for about 5 hrs, although we had to stop for a variety of reasons today, so we probably only rode about 4 - 4.5 hrs. But it made for a long day. My heart rate monitor tells me I burned 3000 calories. Lieselot finished 1.5 hrs before us...holy shit. She was riding with Nate (also from MN) and a few other guys who were often treating the ride like a race. The scenery was beautiful again today, and after climbing the biggest bitch of a hill so far, we stopped at a look-out area that is a Wildlife Management Area...it's basically a bat sanctuary. There was a gorgeous view, and apparently every night, there is bat viewing. The last 5 miles were the worst...I was hungry, we were going into a headwind, and like a lot of the roads around here, it was bumpy...and my tender bits could no longer take it!! But since Lieselot had been back for a while, she was kind enough to make Angie and I sandwiches right away...it was awesome. Lieselot and I hit the hot tub again, showered up, then we all went to the Hellweek banquet. Good food, but relatively uneventful. We got home at 8, and Angie and Lieselot got ready for bed, and got on the Internet. We're too tired to do anything else.

Tomorrow, Lieselot, Angie, and I will do a short 1 -1.5 hr recovery ride. Then Marjie's picking the 3 of us up to go to Austin to (a) do some sight-seeing, (b) pick up a rental car that Angie and I will need to get back to the Austin airport on Saturday, and (c) have dinner with my old friend Worm who lives in Austin. Paula's doing another long ride.

Oh, and I had a phone "conversation" with Jaxson today...he said "Hi Sarah", "miss you", "poppa...jeep", and "bye-bye".

Time for bed.

thanks for reading,
SS