June 9, 2011

My report from yesterday's ride and today's (glorious!) rest day:

Started at 8:20 am.  Forgot to look at the time when I quit.   

Covered 75 miles, ave speed of 14.7 mph.  Max speed - 35.3 mph

Riding time - 5 hours.  

Feet of elevation climbed - 1975'. 

Wind - out of the NNW.  On the "Hurt/Help" Wind scale, today was a 0.0. 

The "Hurt/Help" Wind Scale is my way of saying "this is how much the wind hurt/helped me over the course of the day".  It can Hurt me up to a -5, or help me up to a +5. 

About today: Well, today (as Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen would say) I "popped", more mentally than physically.  I only got in 75 miles when it was supposed to be 145.  A failure?  Yes, from a number of miles point of view.  A learning lesson?  Absolutely, one that I feel will truly make me stronger for the rest of the ride.  Let me tell you about it.   


I had a "bad feeling" about this day before I even went to bed, knots in my stomach at thinking about it.  Sure enough, when I awoke at 4:30, the wind was already blowing 20-30 mph out of the NW.  Well, as you may guess, NW was my direction today, from O'Neill to Valentine.  Since there was no way I could fight wind like that for 145 miles, I called my support drivers, LeAnn and Nia Karmen, who were staying at the Super 8 in O'Neill.  I felt AWFUL asking them to drive me over 100 miles to Valentine so I could ride to O'N so they could drive me clear to Valentine again.  )-:)  But, they were so very gracious. 

Mike, Nia and LeAnn

So, by the time we arrived in Valentine and I start, it's already 8:20 am.  So, I felt "two hours behind" on a day when I had 145 miles to cover.  Not good.  And it was cold today, upper 50's and lower 60's.  Huge change from the day before.  The wind was relentless.  Even though it pushed me a bit going east, it was still hitting me from the side all day long.  Plus, where I was riding was kind of desolate, almost no traffic, few buildings along the way.  It was truly a lonely feeling out there, which always made it nice to see LeAnn and Nia on the horizon!  I'm not sure how to explain it, but as I went along I experienced about every emotion there is, and my spirit, my desire to keep going, just ebbed away, leaving me feeling very "empty".   Frankly, I just lost the will to keep pedaling.  Even the chance to ride about 40 miles with a 25-30 mph tailwind did not excite me!  Now THAT is weird!!!  Every hill was a trial due in part to my ankle.  I was able to point my toe down a bit and pedal without too much pain if I was careful.  But, to really climb hills, it is so helpful to pop up out of the saddle and pedal standing up a lot of the time.  I could not do that without making my eyes pop open really wide (oweey!  oweey!  oweey!).  So, cllimbing hills, which I normally LOVE was just pure misery. 

In the end, I just got to the point where I "popped" and kind of gave up.  And when you have 70 miles to cover yet, that's not a good thing.  I went through the motions, rode a couple more miles and then did something I never thought I'd do on this trip: I quit the day early. 



It is what it is.  I'm looking at what I can learn from it to prepare for the days ahead so it doesn't happen again.  I really needed this rest day.  In hindsight, it would've been good to schedule it a day or two earlier.  I'm venturing into new territory here so I gave it my best guess as to when I would need it and missed it by a day or so.  Live and learn. 

 


Long Pine Creek



        Nia, LeAnn and I stopped in Butte for ice cream sundae's, and then drove a ways into the Long Pine State Rec area to get come pictures.  The sun came out and it was neat to see this beautiful area of Nebraska.  It was truly a good day over all. 

        It was absolutely spetacular to sleep in this morning!!!!  I've been getting about 6-7 hours, and I think that was pretty much repairing my body but not my mind.  In my simple understanding of how sleep benefits the body, the first part of the night, the body repairs itself physically through really deep sleep.  Then the second part of the night, it repairs itself mentally through lighter sleep and lots of dreaming.  (Don't quote me at a medical convention or anything, but I think that's a fairly accurate simple explanation)  Well, last night I got 7 hours of "like a rock" sleep, and then 2 1/2 more hours of "doze, dream, wake...doze, dream, wake..." sleep.  I realized I haven't been doing this for several days and believe this also contributed somewhat to my mental demise yesterday.  So, the chance to dream and doze this morning was wonderful. 

THEN even more wonderful, was the chance to step out of my bed, turn around and say to it, "I don't have to make you today!!"  Woo Hoo!!  It gave me a delicious sense of getting away with something.  (-:)


I had an interview on the radio station and with a reporter from the newspaper this morning.  Then I went to see the Physical Therapist over noon (thank you Sue Whitney!!!).  She was VERY kind to work me in and very helpful in her treatment.  I have a bruise on the inside of my ankle, which means I have a slight tear in my tendon and it did a bit of bleeding.  She did a treatment on it, set me up with basically a "compression sock" to wear when I'm riding, and then tape wrapped my ankle so I could see how to do that in case the compression sock wasn't enough.  I need to get the swelling in my ankle down some so things can heal better.  Feels pretty good right now.  Then at 5:00 pm I had a massage to work all the lactic acid out of my legs, back, shoulders, etc.  I feel like a completely new man!



Me and Ralphy



  Doug is a big-time hunter and in 2006 he dropped a huge buffalo up in South Dakota.  These are enormous animals!!!!  They figured he was over 2500 lbs!  They were able to get just over 1000 lbs of meat from it. 



an expensive clothes drying rack!



    Doug and Sandy also have a Harley.  Here is the ultimate degredation for a Harley: to be used as a drying rake for REAL cycling clothes!



Sandy, Doug and Jackson





Thank-yous for today:

Thank you to my host family, Doug and Sandy Jacobs.  Sandy is Ken Moderow's daughter.  They were VERY helpful and kind.  Thank you!  Also in the picture is their grandson Jackson.  He's a little ham! 
Thank you also to those who have encouraged my with phone calls, especially my brothers Doug and Kevin, and friends Keith and Brian (I had a can of pineapples today!).  Thank you to Linda and Tony and also to Kathy from Keya Paha County.  I sorry I didn't make connection with you (Kathy), but I did cycle through Burton.  (-:)  The support and prayers of all of you are greatly appreciated. 

Thank you also to Terry and Ann Hofman, my support drivers for tomorrow! 

Bible verses dealing with Jesus and “wishes”.  A WISH…

     For relief from demons – Luke 8:26-39; Matthew 17:14-18

           For physical protection – Matthew 14:22-33


Quote of the Day:

 “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.”  - Ernest Hemingway

What do you call a cyclist who doesn't wear a helmet?  An organ donor. - David Perry

Spin Home Wisdom story:

In honor of Doug's Harley, I've posted "Motorcycles, and the Finger that Pointed East".  Enjoy!!

Closing thoughts for the day: 

This has been a very nice day.  I am looking forward to riding tomorrow.  Thanks for following my blog and keeping me in your prayers. 

Forecast for the next day:

Medium wind out of the NW.  Temps in the low 70's.  Only small chance of rain.  Considering that I'm going SE, I'm pretty excited!  (-:)

Route/Towns for the next day:

June 10 - Valentine to Wood Lake to Johnstown to Ainsworth to Long Pine to Bassett

to Long Pine to Ainsworth to Brewster