Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Saddle sores ...

After riding all 7,400 miles last year without any butt problems, I’ve been bothered with saddle sores on and off all year. The first 20 miles today went well; I was moving OK, but my saddle was starting to bother me again. With days off after the ER event, I thought I would not be in too bad a shape, but after the rest stop at mile 22, getting back on the bike was torture. 

So, of course then everything started to bother me. The hills, (short and only 4%-5.5%) seemed like twice the % and 10 times longer. I know for sure I never had any down hill runs at all. :-). I know for sure I have climbed all of these hills and hit all 2 million bumps on this road before (just because I’ve never been on this road before is immaterial)! They all feel and look like those I’ve actually seen and hit in the last two years. 

For the life of me I could not conjure up why I was out here today. Yesterday I rode 86 miles at an average speed of 14 MPH; today I rode 55 miles at an average speed of 11.8 MPH, under similar conditions as yesterday. And, going through my mind for 33 miles today was questioning what I was doing out here. Of course I had to fit that in with the stupid "skunk song" that kept playing in my mind most of the day! I will acknowledge I’m inspired by my fellow riders, the church members who cater to us, and the blessing of helping people in need of safe housing. But, this is my third year, and I’m thinking maybe I should have taken a year off, doing just the spring ride with family. Or, maybe driven the van this year. Ah, questions.

We rode through rain for most of the first 22 miles. It took a few miles to get to us, but then hung around in various degrees of strength until almost the first stop. I had almost dried out by the time we reached the church. Showers were available at the church again, a luxury to not have to transport to get our showers.

So far, not even a good or bad chocolate malt to rate, and after two yesterday, I have no plans of going out for one tonight. :-(

All in all, a tough and depressing day for me. Thank goodness this kind of day has been few and far between on these rides. I’ll probably rest my rear tomorrow.

Peace, geezerman

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