Un-Recovered

Luckily Dan took care of the Urban Assault Ride report... since all I can remember from the ride is me telling him I was just going to follow him, my shoe disappearing, and being tipsy by noontime. That, and hanging out with Dan, Shang, and Steven after the ride. It reminded me of what life used to be like, when I had friends and didn't live in Folsom. And this is because I had gotten 1.5 hours of sleep and driven 3.5 hours between this race and Wildflower Long Course the previous day. BUT, this day combined with the day before made up what is the funnest and most ridiculously awesome weekend I've had in California at least this year so far, if not the entire time I've lived in the state. Second and third top weekends would be Tahoe back in February and Solvang in March. (Note: none of these fun weekends took place in Folsom.)

So now on to the ride today. I had a feeling it wasn't going to go so well, seeing as I hadn't felt truly recovered from Wildflower and lack of sleep until yesterday. And then of course since I finally felt energetic, I had to go to Crossfit and do the Friday WOD which tends to be crazy more often than not. And indeed it was, involving 10 flips of a 150 lb tire (for me, others went heavier), 4 rounds of 10 kettlebell swings, 10 toe-to-bars (I only can get knees), 10 24" high box jumps, and 10 dumbbell thrusters, concluding with a steep, short hill run. So after that, I spent the rest of the day feeling rather hungry and tired. Which meant I woke up sore.

Get on the bike, legs are moving. Meet the guys in the parking lot of one of the grocery stores less than 2 miles from me (there are at least 4 grocery stores within 5 miles of my apartment). We start, and immediately the pace picks up. Oh it's going to be a painful day. Lots of rolling hills out to Lotus (first time I've been here), through Coloma, over to Prospector's Hill. This is a steep 2 mile long climb that tops out with a 15% grade or so. More rolling hills and into Georgetown for a brief stop at the gas station. My stomach isn't cooperating. Nothing seems to be digesting. Head out of Georgetown on 193 with a nice descent and more rollers. My legs are no longer responding on the uphills...I'm beginning to fear the climb, known as Chili Bar, out of the river and actually looking forward to the upcoming descent. Keep following 193 down into the confluence of the American River with the typical twisty, switchback turns. I remember to get into my drops, hurray! At the bottom, time to climb up. Chili Bar is a slightly longer climb than Prospector's, though usually not as steep, though the grade can get up to the mid-teens here too. But my legs are dead and I honestly start considering stopping and laying on the ground. Finally, finally at the top. And the group is waiting for me, thank goodness. Although I suppose if they had taken off, I could have hung around until Soda came to visit her boyfriend who lives along that road.

More rollers through Placerville. Actually I think this route can be summed up by many rollers with 2 big climbs. Continue through Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, and finally back onto Green Valley for the mostly downhill. My legs are complete toast at this point.

80 miles later I'm back at my apartment and shaking. For the first time ever, all I can do is make a recovery drink and sit. This is a ride like Lee describes, where you simply have to curl up into a fetal position. Lessons learned - Crossfit on Fridays is probably not a wise idea and doing a hard ride a week after a hard race is just plain stupid.