Why does EVERY bike ride have to be an adventure?

This training has been quite amusing. It’s pretty funny that on almost every ride, something comical happens. The beauty of long distance cycling, I guess. LOL

As you know, Saturday I did the long brick (written previously). On Sunday, I was supposed to ride 2 hours. But first, I was supporting some of my athletes as they competed in a sprint distance triathlon. So the plan was to meet some of my other athletes after the sprint tri to ride the Danskin course and give them exposure to the course. I had planned on riding in twice to get in at least 1 1/2 hours. I felt OK with cutting the ride a little short since my legs were pretty tired from the previous day’s workout, and the 2 hours I was supposed to do was to be done on fairly flat, of which this course was not.

So, the sprint tri went great, the weather was nice and everything went according to plan. At 11am, I met up with the people I was going to ride with and off we went. Lap one was going great until we got to the steep downhill.  I felt a little prickle on my right shoulder.  As I continued after the sharp right turn, I felt another prickle, this one hurt more.  Finally, the stinging got worse and I felt another one.  I pulled over and asked one of the women I was riding with to check if something was in my shirt.  Lo and behold, a bee had flown into my shirt on the downhill and stung me three times!  Good thing I’m not allergic to bee stings….

Gretchen and I said good bye to the other 3 ladies and started on Lap 2.  Lap 2 started uneventfully, but this soon changed.  As we started up the third hill, the sky got really dark.  I stopped an waited for Gretchen at the top of the hill.  We decided it was probably best to turn around–the skies were THAT dark.  So, off we went down the three hills we just climbed—and then came the torrential downpour and severe winds.  If you recall Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, you can picture how we felt trying to stay on our bikes as the cross-winds were trying to lift us off the ground, and raindrops the size of stones.  I’m guessing hail was involved at some point.  If all of this isn’t eventful enough, the story continues.

So, I was not looking back, I was just biking as fast as I could to get back to the car.  I get to my car, throw everything in the car and wait for Gretchen.  5 minutes pass…10 minutes pass…I’m starting to freak out and think maybe she got knocked off her bike during one of the wind gusts.  So, I decide to drive a little of the course to see if I could find her.  I drive up the road, no Gretchen.  I drive back to the park, no Gretchen.  I look for her phone number in my cell, and of course it is not there.   NOW I’m panicked!

I see a policeman driving around the park and flag him down.  I tell him I’ve lost my friend and ask him to go drive the route to see if he can find her!  I told him I’d stay put in case she comes back.  Off he goes, and I sit in the car.  I’m now in full panic mode.  About 10 more minutes goes by (mind you it felt like HOURS) and  I see a car with one of the other riders in it.  I start to tell her I’ve lost Gretchen, and guess what, Gretchen was driving the car!!!!!   Little did I know, she parked in front of the restaurant, not in the park.  So when she got to her car, she waited there.  She went into the restaurant thinking maybe  I was inside looking for her.  She ran into the women we rode with, who were eating lunch, and asked for my cell number.   Of course, she was in a panic too and thought maybe I was hurt!  The woman who had my number had left her phone in her car at the park.  Thank goodness because that’s where I was waiting!  Anyways, all turned out well, but that was scary!!!

Oh, and of course I had to clean and lube my bike AGAIN!!  Boy, I am getting so good at this