What happens when you assume

Yesterday started out like many others wake up, pack the car, go to work and ride with the TnT crew.  Before I packed the car I took a few minutes to place the borrowed saddle onto Le Antique so I could try to get a feel for it before I went out on a longer ride later this week.

The ride started with a short cruise over to Westcreek where I arrived a few minutes early and got in a couple more miles while waiting for the remaining members of the crew to arrive.  Once we got started, I dropped back to chit chat with another team member and before we knew it had lost contact with the main group.

This is where my assumption got me into trouble.  Well not really trouble but it did make work a bit harder than I thought I was going to.  The last couple of weeks we had been going left onto Millers and then heading over to Shallow Well before returning back to WC.  I hung a left and gave it a bit more energy in hopes of catching back up shortly.  They couldn't be that far ahead, I thought to myself.

Once I arrived at the corner of Millers and Shallow Well, I began to believe that they had not come this way tonight.  I kept pushing on in hopes that my second assumption of the evening was wrong.  It would turn out not to be wrong.  I was chasing ghosts all night, always thinking I would see them "right around this bend".

That didn't happen either.  I arrived back to the lot a few moments ahead of the them.  Turns out they decided to take two shorter laps instead of one of the longer loops.   My assumption rating was 50% for the evening and it only cost me a few extra farmland miles.  One day my mother's advice about assuming things might just set in, maybe.

Forced time off = ouch

Mid-way through last week, I knew there was not going to be much opportunity for me to get any decent riding time in due to work and the other projects I had started around the house.  I didn't want these projects to continue on for long so I put a lot of my free time into it when I wasn't at work or sleeping.  In trying to keep my sanity, I told myself it was a "forced recovery week."

On Saturday afternoon when I jumped on the bike to make my way my thoughts of "forced recovery week" changed.  They are a bad idea if you wish to keep any sort of consistent fitness.  It had now been 7 days without my arse being in the saddle and my legs were letting me know about it quickly.  Needless to say, the ride in wasn't that enjoyable.  Correction, it was nice to be on the bike but it hurt a bit more than I would have liked.  Saturday evening, I ended up making the ride home mostly with Zeb of the Hug and Tug Crew.  He set a pace I didn't want to really keep but did so just to save a bit of face.

Sunday morning, I woke up a few minutes early so I could help Jenn get ready for her triathlon.  Having to be at work shortly after should would finish I packed my gear up along with hers so I would just ride over from the race and then ride home.  Jenn did a amazing job finishing 6th of 26 while setting a PR for the course.  She was/is extremely happy with her progress.  Now if her hip would stop bothering her like mine was (Is hip flexor discomfort contagious?) she would be even happier.

On the ride home from the shop Ried, Twig and I were all heading the same way so we all left together.  Twig and I were a bit tired still and made the comment that we weren't trying to push it.  Once that was out of our mouths Ried jumped off the front to up the pace.  Again not wanting my ego to take a hit, I put my head down to close the gap and pull him back. 

Once alongside of Ried, I made the comment "Nice jump but how about we not do that again?"  Seconds later, Twig was off the front.  Not again!  Once again I put my head down to pull us all back together which took a bit more of an effort because of our delayed response.  Once we were all back together it was time for Ried to head one direction and Twig and the opposite.  Twig was gracious enough to let me try a saddle he isn't using so after a quick stop by the Square Brick Building on the Right I was back on the road heading for home solo.  Thank goodness, I could finally shut it down and just spin it home.

I don't think I will be taking that much time off the bike in a straight setting anymore.  At least not until September and the ADK is in the past.  This week sees a rest day today, then back at it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday then possibly Saturday and Sunday.  6 days in a row really?  Taking bets as to if it actually happens or not.

1 hour 30 minutes

 Raw vegetables for a salsa and some potatoes ready for heat

 

Gotta have greens with every meal

 Pork stuffed with pepper jack

 Dueling dragons

 Vegetables with a little smokey flavor added

 Golden brown

 Time for a short rest

Final plating before devouring

 

Direction of focus

So the last week has been a bit of a let down in terms of saddle time.  The usual culprits are to blame work, weather and lack of motivation.  Their isn't much I can do about the work and weather but the motivation, I could probably do something about that.  It isn't the fact that I don't have any motivation, it's just I have been focusing all my attention onto work and a couple of projects I/we have started around the house.  Both of which I am terribly excited about.  Neither of which I am going to reveal any details of just yet.

I did pry myself away from said projects and out of the house long enough on Saturday morning for an easy 30ish through Ashland with the TNT crew.  They were slated to ride 75 but with Mother Nature threatening us with hail producing thunderstorms all day we thought it best to get in a quick ride before things got sporty.  As it turned out Mother Nature ended up holding her cards close to her chest and not revealing her hand until late in the afternoon.  No worries as the ride was a good one and I know of at least one other rider who had a great ride despite their being a whispering gnat in her ear all day.

Depending on how quickly the house projects get finished up, I may have a post about a decent ride or two later this week.  Until then, here are some pics from Saturday...

 Delivery thanks to Powerbar

 Orange Turtle which we helped cross the road

 

Field of purple flowers in the mist