28 miles down and the world to go!

Yesterday at 6:45am Dixie knocked on my door. She was there so we could take our first "LONG" ride together in preperation for our upcoming triathlon race. We have both been riding in the gym together, but it's not really indicative of how riding outside is. So, we had to get outside and get used to real world environments.

I have to admit that I woke up at 6:30am to get ready before Dixie got there. I got my lovely blue bike shorts on, and promptly covered them up with another pair of shorts. I made sure my new helmet fit me properly and filled my water bottle. I was getting geared up for the ride, but deep inside I was a bit nervous because it has been over 15 years since I've riden a bike more than 15 miles at a single time. I didn't want to fall short of finishing the ride when I knew Dixie would never quit till she was finished.

So, with cleats on my feet and bike ready, Dixie and I headed off on our ride. We began at Harris Road and McKellips and road east on McKellips to Lindsay. At Lindsay we went North to McDowell then continued East on McDowell out to Las Sendas. I didn't notice the wind when we started, but by the time we were on McDowell I could feel the gusts of wind pushing back on me as we rode head long into it. The wind was noticeable, but as long as we were on the flat straights, it wasn't horrible. Dixie and I kept a solid pace and shared time leading until we got to Power Road and McDowell. We had to stop at the light which took all of our momentum. If you are not aware, at Power and McDowell it becomes a more noticeable hill that continues to grow as you go through Las Sendas. It was amazing how quickly Dixie took off, and how mired down I got when we went up the hill. I could not keep up and by the time I got to the turn off to Las Sendas I thought my legs were going to fall off. The muscles were screaming at me to stop and my lungs cried for air. Fortunately for me Dixie was so far ahead of me that she missed the turn off to Las Sendas. I waited at the light until Dixie realized that I was far back waiting for her to come back. Even with that rest I couldn't keep up with her when it came to climbing hills. I told her that it was easier for her because she's smaller...I'm like a Sail billowing in the wind, not to mention that I'm having to propel twice as much mass up those darn hills. (reality or not, the theories made me feel better.) It was one thing having Dixie get ahead of my on hills, but it was quite another to have old men pass me like I was standing still. As one man, obviously well into his 60's, passed me he said, "You know it's togh to climb hills, but it's hell when you have to climb hills with hard wind in your face." That was great...I had another excuse why I sucked at cycling.

So, with no Dixie in my sights I continued to churn my legs as fast as I could to get to the precipice of this hill Las Sendas is built on. When I crested the main point I looked out over Mesa and rememberd that the entire ride from Lindsay through Las Sendas is up hill, albeit a slight grade, but uphill nonetheless. In that brief moment of realiztion I felt a sense of accomplishment and excitement. I had ridden into the face of a stiff wind, uphill, and I was still riding and hadn't thrown up any lungs. That was the accomplishment part. The excitement came when I remembered that what goes up must come down and in this case it was ME. I put my bike into the lowest gear and began cranking as hard as I could. I started picking up speed and before long I was blowing past Dixie. (Mass is an interesting thing. When we climbed hills Dixie's lack of mass enabled her to climb faster and easier...when we were going down hill, my MASS gave me more speed.)

We flew down the hills of Las Sendas and back out to Power Road for our return. The entire ride home felt so much easier as the wind was too our backs and the grade of the road was now in our favor. We passed other cyclists who promptly scolded Dixie for not having a helmet. (I was pleased that it was not me that got chided...as it usually is.) We saw runners and cyclsits a plenty. I felt like part of the club. Just months ago I looked at these same people with a sense of disbelief and wonder as they rode up and down hills for mile after mile. Now I was one of them, and their reasons for riding those long miles and hard trails became very clear. As I finished my ride with my little sister I felt great. Yes, my butt hurt a little, but the overriding feelings of completion and growing fitness level were so much more powerful.

I want to thank Dixie for her continued prodding. It has been great training with her, and I look forward to many more years of training with her.