Strong Wind Makes Strong Athletes

Plus side: the wind made the ride cool and refreshing this morning. I actually had goosebumps at the start. The company was excellent! Even the people at the convenience store in Coupland were nice and chatty.

Down side:  just about every other damn thing.

Riding Into the Wind

Holy smokes! We knew we were in trouble when hubby and I drove up and saw the flags at the intersection of Weiss (?) and Kelly blowing — not fluttering, but full-out standing-straight-out — in the wind. When we pulled into the Lake Pflugerville parking lot, the wind caught my car door and flung it open. (We’ve been doing the rides out in Pflugerville to help Claire get ready to represent our country in Holland, which is flat and windy. Plus, the routes out there really are quite pleasant and cyclist-friendly.)

The first half was nice. I felt good though I was startled to see when we got to the convenience store that I hadn’t even drunk all of one of my bottles. Normally, I’ve gone through at least two and am working on the third. Not good. I think the wind was keeping me cool enough that I wasn’t thinking about drinking; it was also enough of a factor that I did not want to let go to grab a bottle.

Unfortunately, I was without my aerobottle, which I love — I’d gone to two places Saturday looking for replacement bands as one band didn’t make it back from Coeur d’Alene but no one had any, so it wasn’t with me. (Last time, I’d borrowed a band from Cathy but she was at home today, recovering from vacation.)  Mistake, mistake.

Too Little Water, Too Much Work

Also, I’m pretty sure I was working a hydration deficit from Saturday. First, my long run in the morning was followed by sitting outside in the afternoon for a 1:15 soccer game. Second, I had a couple of glasses of wine at a friend’s wedding that night. Combine that with how little I had drunk in the first 23 miles, and I realized I was setting myself up for disaster.

Either the wind picked up or we turned more into it in the second half. Whatever tiny hills are out there are in the second portion of the route, and it seemed that every hill was uphill into an extremely stiff wind. Ugh. The sun came out as well. The final 5 miles were straight into the wind. I slogged away, fairly joylessly. My stomach got yucky and at one point, with less than a mile left, I actually considered getting off my bike for a bit. To do what? Walk? At that point, I realized my mental game was off and I began to consider that I was probably seriously dehydrated.

When we stopped, I got off Clementine and said to hubby that I felt sick. He kindly put the bikes in the car and got us ready to go. There was ice water in a cooler and I guzzled some, which promptly gave me horrid stomach cramps. The next thing I knew, hubby was waking me up in the garage at home. A quick rinse-off and I was in bed, literally passed out, for more than two hours.