Memorial Day Ride

CDV and I decided that a Memorial Day Ride was a necessity so we posted an email on our club listserv to see what we could muster for riders. As it neared our departure time of 9:00 from Hy-vee, it appeared that it would be CDV and myself. But wait, in the distance, two bikers appear. Crap. It's AJ and Pongo. Young, in shape, and ready to push into the gale force north winds in an attempt to do 50 miles before noon. The kind of guys that instantly raise the mph average by at least 2-3 mph.

Did I mention that I've been battling some nasty crud that is making breathing in general difficult? CDV had been battling a crud as well, possibly getting overheated the day before (which is hard to believe with today's massive 49 degree temperatures). He dropped off about five miles in and waved us on.

I hung on for dear life and still did my share of pulling, but we averaged around a whopping 14 mph for the first 25 miles and my lungs were on fire. The way home, with the wind, would prove to not be much better as the pace was 22-25 most of the way home. I cut them loose with a couple miles to go so I could wind down and let my lungs recover before getting off the bike. This proved very wise.

There was ride survival, which was good. Although a hot hot hot bath was in order to try to clear my head and lungs a bit. The rest of the day was spent hanging with the kids playing much less taxing activities. CDV was batchin' it so we invited him over and he arrived carrying Summer Shandy which hopefully is a sign that warmer temps are coming.