Stupidest Idea Ever

Or that’s what the human decided.  It was the stupidest idea the human ever had.  And that was to ride a 200km brevet after finishing nearly 500 miles in 6 days in the northern desert.  Oh, maybe to a southerner that might not seem like much, but, remember, the human and I are northerners.  We’ve been in winter; we come down to Tucson to ride for a week in March.  I haven’t been on the road since fall; the human only to commute to work.

But, the human said that getting in a 200k in March, even if it was slow and uncomfortable would be a morale boost for our future training.  That is what the human said…and it was what the human kept muttering from well before 100km.  So, why didn’t we just quit?  Ah…there’s the rub.

First, let me tell you that the human is stubborn.  Really stubborn.  We committed to this ride, we started it, so, darn it, we’re going to finish it.  Sigh….did the human ever think that maybe, just maybe, I was tired, too?  Maybe I would like to quit? Hmmmm???

Second, and more important, there was a cheering squad supporting us.  OK, they weren’t on the ride with us, but we knew they were there.  As the human’s other half likes to quip…my human is “chipped”.  Now, the other half alone doesn’t make up a cheering squad.  What does make up a cheering squad is the PAC Tour crew who were doing their betwixt-tour duties back at the hotel.   You couldn’t ask for a better cheering squad.  We couldn’t really hear them all those miles away, but we knew that they were keeping tabs on us and cheering us on.  We couldn’t let them down.  Well, and there was that beer that was promised when we finished–a Phoenix Ale Brewing Company Watermelon Ale to be precise.

So we plowed along (tootling was no longer the operative word).  Pushing up the hills.  Pushing into the wind (not as strong as Friday’s, but present).  And we finished.  9:38 for 200km.  We were tired.  Zombie tired.  And that beer?  Sigh…we arrived 10 minutes before a storm.  So, we got the beer and good food, but missed out on sitting outside and just chillin’ with the crew.  Next time.

But, was it really the stupidest idea ever?  Yes…and no.  We were feeing pretty darn good for the first 5 days of this trip.  We were finishing 90 mile rides with energy to spare and riding at a respectable pace.  Heck, we even finished Friday’s 90 miles with headwind without too much difficulty.  One could say that we thought this fall’s transcontinental would not be as hard as we thought.

Now we know otherwise.  We have work to do, the human and I.  We need to do those long rides including a couple of 300km/200mile rides.  We need to keep up the intervals and get just a little faster yet.  We’ve got a long way to go, the road ahead is not insurmountable, but it will take work to get there.  Now, I’m up for it…we’ll se about the human.