I Was Tricked

This morning I woke up to 39 degrees outside and a recovery ride--one that I was looking forward to. Since it was a recovery ride I knew to dress a little bit warmer than I would for a mountain ride-since recovery rides are on road they tend to be a bit cooler than a mountain ride. I mentally had set my body and mind in to recovery mode, so a short, cool ride was on the brain.

At the meet site Todd was the first to show. He too was ready for a good ride. We waited a bit, but not too long, when Eric showed up, and then we started to ride. Steve had just gotten up and he would catch us soon. Being a recovery ride it meant we would see him soon, as riding on the flat road it is not hard to catch us. As we started to ride Eric told us Steve had emailed the night before and wanted to do a mountain ride today since rain was planned for the rest of the week. I made some comment about a recovery ride, and then said a mountain ride would be a good recovery ride, and expect me to go slow, so slow it was-a mere 4 miles an hour up the hill, usually I go 7 to 8 mph up this hill. This was slow, slow enough I was able to have a conversation without dying trying to breathe.

It was a great time riding on the mountain today. The trail was tacky from the previous rain storm, and there was a small herd of deer watching as we rode up the hill. The morning light came quickly this morning and we were only a third of the way to the top and could see most of the trail without our lights. Today I was not near as tentative riding as the last time on dirt, I felt much more comfortable riding and the brakes were used to help with my riding not to keep me from crashing. And I actually could see the guys in the distance, today they were not going to stay clear ahead of me--only a little bit ahead of me.

I may not have been prepared mentally or clothing wise for a mountain ride, but it was one of the best recovery rides we have had. And as far was being tricked for the ride, Steve ended up getting the short end of the stick, since he was late he had to catch up via a mountain climb instead of a flat ride. Sorry Steve, I guess next time you change the ride you will get up on time. ;-)