This Ride Blows...and Blows...and Blows

So this is what the Dixie Chicks were talking about when they sang "Wide Open Spaces." This is is what Bob Dylan meant when he sang "Blowing in the Wind." Perhaps even Bette Midler was thinking of the Rosedale Ride when she sang "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Wow...Along with a couple of thousands of others, Shawn and I participated in this charity bike ride on Saturday morning benefitting Rosedale Elementary school in Austin. It was a perfect morning for a bike ride, I gotta say. Mid 60s, cloudy and did I mention BREEZY?? I'm not sure if I was just ultra sensitive to it, but the wind was brutal for the entire 45 mile route that we rode. We started in the Northeast part of town at the Applied Materials parking lot and proceeded to ride around country road after country road. This event is so well organized and just so rewarding. What started as a neighborhood ride 13 years ago is now a major cycling event in Austin. Unfortunately, I was struggling through a lot of it, and turned into selfish, grumpy Carrie. My legs were like bricks, perhaps left over from the 13 mile run the day before. I don't honestly know. I just know that I had no gas in the tank and it was upsetting and humiliating to watch Shawn speed up and weave in and out of riders only to slow down and wait up for me over and over and over...I just kept wondering what happened to all of the improvements from last year. I couldn't stop focusing on how sore I felt. I tried to change my negative mind and think about the people on whose behalf I was riding. Rosedale is a school for physically challenged children and most of these kids will never even be able to ride a bike. I should be so lucky that I was doing 45 miles. I really did try to keep focusing on my blessings. And then I would feel sore...and then I would hit a rest stop and refuel. That felt good. I'd start riding again and it would start to hurt again. Damn...focus on the positive Carrie. I just wanted the wind to stop, but it wouldn't; or so it seemed.

We FINALLY finished and I was toasted and felt severely undernourished for the ride. I haven't "bonked" in a long time and this ride was pretty much one big bonk. Put it this way, it took us about 3hrs 10 min to do 45 miles. I rode 56 miles in 2hrs 57 min in my last Half-Ironman. What a difference a couple of months makes!!

But you know what?? That's just how it goes. It was a charity ride and I was letting my ego get in the way of any fun that I could've been having. Lesson Learned. If it was a race, I would've said, "I'm never doing this again." However, because it's such a good cause, I'm confident in saying, "Heck yes I'd do it again."

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Having a good time with my parents being in town, but wishing the weather was being a little more cooperative...I've also been eating a little poorer than usual which I'm sure is also setting me back slightly in the weight-loss challenge.

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My Beloved Buckeyes are in the FINAL FOUR!!! GO Bucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!