Death Ride

Rode out into the desert again today and had the worst and hardest day of the season. Because of the mountains here, it can be windy in an area and just five miles away perfectly still. When I started the ride it was calm. I rode like for almost two hours through city and then into the desert. I climbed two or three miles up out of the city through a little mountain range. Felt absolutely fantastic. When I got to the top of that hill I had to head west and got hit with a tremendous headwind. It seemed wise to keep going because the day before on this road the winds changed routinely. Not this way today though as the winds just got stronger and stronger. My guess is that the winds were hitting 40 mph. It was 20 miles into this. If I stopped peddling, the bike stopped right now even coming down hill. Sand was being blown up into my face. I really wasn't sure I was going to be able to complete this thing. I did though and ended up riding with the wind for a few miles after making some turns. The trucks were on the interstate right next to me and they weren't going much faster than I was! I figure I was in the 45-50 mph range. The next leg back into town was all crosswind and then the sandblaster dust storm hit me. This hurt pretty bad and sand got into my right eye and I couldn't clear it.

I finished after 56 miles and 4 hours dead tired and feeling a bit, well, stupid. This is supposed to be a recovery week and I turned it into a very, very intense effort. When I looked in the mirror I was shocked. The person looking back at me

looked like he just race Paris-Roubaix. Sand and road grime all over the place. I had sand in my right ear canal. Geez it was ugly.

Recovery is going well after getting a big pasta lunch. Tomorrow will be different fo' sho'.

My bike is an aluminum Giant TCR with full Dura Ace. Not bad for a rental.