Back in the saddle

May 20, 2009
I took several days off the bike due to a strained Achilles tendon. I have dealt with this before. 2 years ago I did RAGBRAI (ride across Iowa) and on day 4 or 5 I started having pain in my right ankle. So, I knew what it was when I felt it this time. Not much to do except take time off, ice the ankle and take some anti-inflammatory medicine.
I did the Tuesday night ride last night and all seems well with the ankle. I experienced no pain. Well, at least no ankle pain. My legs felt a lot of pain and my lungs burned as if I had doused them in gasoline.
It was a decent ride, but not as good as last week. At mile 15 a gap opened up with about 10 riders in front of me and 4 or 5 behind me. We thought the guys at the front of this group would bridge the gap, but they made no attempt. So, about 4 or 5 of us started working on closing the gap and getting back on with the main field. We made slow, but steady progress. 2 riders got out front a little and caught the group at a red light. Before the rest of us could get up to them, the light changed and they took off like scalded dogs. We could not catch them. I got out in front and made a solo attempt to catch on. It was in vain and I almost blew up. I backed off and let a single rider catch up. We decided to wait at the next stop light and let a few more join so we could work together to complete the ride. 2 riders soon joined us and we were off. We got a rotating pace line going and kept it smooth and steady at around 23 mph. One guy was getting pretty tired and struggling to pull through each time. I told him to just sit in and skip the rotation until he had recovered. He did this for several turns and got back in. He only made it for 4 or 5 pulls until he was cooked. He sat in the rest of the ride. 2 of us never skipped our pulls. One other rider would take a break about every 12 rounds or so. We cut about 4 ½ miles off the route and finished in just under 2 hours. On the last turn into the parking lot, I hit some loose sand and slid a little, but managed to stay upright. Another rider in another group wasn’t so lucky. He went down, but only suffered minor scrapes.
I may get out again tonight, I haven’t decided yet. But tomorrow, I will take out the TT bike in prep for Saturday morning’s TT. I also have a crit Saturday afternoon and a road race Sunday morning. It will be a busy weekend. I’m glad Monday is a holiday and I will be off. It will be a blissful, well needed day of recovery.