Slow Ride...nana...take it easy

Bike Miles today: About 14

Nothing really special about the daily commute. Tough ride home from the wind but that is about normal here in Iowa. I hit the road at lunch for a little ride and it was kind of interesting.

I haven't really ridden much around where I work, mostly just to and from work. So this morning I took off West from one of our parking lots figuring that it shouldn't be so bad. I remember from a jog once that it is down hill for a while here at the beginning (I was jogging the other way naturally) Besides, it's nice to try new and exciting things right? Right? Things were going great until I got a fork in the road. I wasn't sure which way to go because I hadn't ever been either direction. To quote the keeper from of the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones and the last Crusade, "I did not choose wisely."

I decided to go straight, which was also a Dead End road. I figured I could just cruise down it and then turn around and go the other way. Not exactly. Not 50 yards from the fork I see the side of a cliff in front of me. I'm game to give it a go as they say. I immediately downshifted to the granny gears and started churning. THIS IS THE PART OF THE STORY WHERE I GET PASSED BY A CIVIC THAT CAN HARDLY MAKE IT UP THE ROAD. About halfway up the road goes vertical, I'm not kidding, I thought I was going to fall over backwards. But I kept chugging. I figured I was doing OK because I wasn't having any chest pains (This is usually my sign to know how things are going). I ignored the pain in my legs and kept focusing on my breathing and avoiding the urge to throw up( Doing this makes the time go more quickly). And I made it up the hill. I was definately stoked. Even more stoked when I started over the top and found a nice little down hill section on the other side...oh wait..this is kind of long...slow down...brakes...that was a long hill. I hit the end of the road and see the road I just came down in front me and I have to climb back up.

At this point I wish I was dead. I'm down by the river and I contemplated just tossing my bike in the river, but I couldn't quit like that. So I start pedaling. I actually made it up the first part of this hill in higher gears and then downshifted. Then off to my left what do I hear? Dogs!! Some mangy looking thing and a golden retriever start after me. Oh boy, I'm a dead man. I'm already going top speed (which is just north of a snail's pace) and these dogs are going to enjoy a fat ankle/Nike/biker snack today. But they didn't. The loud one (I'm guessing it was the female) just sat in the street and barked (sitting in the street also confirmed it's sex) while the other one ran alongside me wanting me to play with it and obviously oblivious to the serious amounts of pain I was feeling. But I focused on the dog for a while while pedaling so maybe the biking gods sent this dog to me to help me meditate out of my brain during this event.

I kept chugging and made it up that hill too. This one was longer but not as steep. So, needless to say by the time I fought the headwind back to the office I was seriously cooked, and I still had my afternoon commute to go. And to top it all off the entire ride was like 5-6 miles. It felt like 20 when I was done. Hard to explain. You want to know what was at the end of that dead end? Nothing. A house, a river and some high school kids that looked like they were up to no good. It was a little bit of a letdown, but I guess I did learn a little about myself.

I mentioned where I was to a co-worker. He says, "Oh yeah, I go up there sometimes because it's like the highest point in the city and you can see the whole city from there. But I drive. It's kind of hilly."

"Really? You don't say." And then I gulp down a couple Tylenol.

FGLB