Dispatches From The Field 1-9-11

8:00am - I feel a strong kick to the ribs. My personal alarm clock...
Somewhere in the night my daughter climbed into bed with Melissa and I; she moves around a lot as she sleeps and I usually get battle damage as a result if she has found her way into our room. I want to go back to sleep. This has been a really hard week and I have not been getting much sleep. Long ride today, I need to get up...five more minutes. Another kick, this time to the hip. Larger forces are speaking to me; I will get up.

It takes me awhile to get going. I'm not organized and Melissa has put my stuff away (which means I can't find it). In her defense, I have the unfortunate habit of leaving stuff out where she will trip over it (I'm going to use it later...). I don't get out until 9:30...need to get going.

60 miles today on the bike. Coach is taking some of her clients from the west side of town up to Red Rock. I was invited but declined because I was going to get out early and get things done. Ah, the best laid plans and all that...

I decide that I will set the goal of getting out there from the other side of town. I figure I have about two hours. If I am lucky, I can catch them on the way out at my turnaround; it will give me something to shoot for. The only challenge is that it is mostly uphill on the way out. Better start peddling.

I start out along my usual route for a 15-20 mile effort, but then kick through the Southern Highlands area and work my way back to Highway 160. Nice shoulder with a bike path all the way to Red Rocks. Then the junction to Highway 159 and around the backside to the Red Rock Visitor Center. Turn around and come home, leaving out Southern Highlands on the way back. The whole thing will take me a couple miles over my goal. Goal time for today is 3:45:00.

The weather has been improving over last week to a point where I am wearing a short sleeve jersey and bike shorts. Riding, I think I might be a little over ambitious. Some sleeves would be nice, but its not unbearable. Pace is decent, but everything hurts because I've been trying to do more this week to make up for lost time early in the week. I feel like I am pushing everything to the edge of a stress injury right now. It's a daily conversation with my body about maybe doing just a little more for me. If you promise not to break, I promise not to push any harder than this. Then I push just a little harder... my body seems to be grudgingly tolerant at the moment.

The day is simply beautiful. Crisp and clear, with winds being nothing to moderate. The usual headwind going up 160 is missing and only two cars have tried to decorate their front quarter panel with my left arm and handlebar. One of these was a lady in her Cadillac with her small dog in her lap, a big gulp in one hand and her phone texting in the other. I supposed she was steering with a knee. I was too terrified to be angry. I tried to catch her at the light to suggest that she move over to the passenger seat and let the dog drive...

160 is seductively uphill. You feel like it shouldn't be that bad and you go just a little harder than you should, but the constant grade just sucks the life out of your legs. I reach the 159 junction and realize that I may have pressed a little too hard. I look at my Garmin and see that she should be starting out from the other side. It becomes a race to see how far I can get before she catches me the other way. I get going.

I end up about 400 meters short of the Visitor Center when I see Cyndee. Not bad. She gives me a wave and I flip around to catch her for the first part of my trip back. The key now is to not get dropped on the couple hills on the way back. With my weight advantage, the downhills are no problem.

As I catch up and begin to ride alongside, she informs me that she is injured and thus dogging it. I am torn: my pride is wounded because I am struggling to keep up with her injured pace, on the other hand, at least I am keeping up. The time to her turnaround goes fast and she reminds me at the end that I have a stress test coming up in a couple of days. I cringe with the thought. Time to update heart rate zones.

Coming back the wind switches into my face as I head back down 160. I smile to myself. It's never free.

3:48:56 / 60.9 miles