I made it back home after a much tougher, longer day.
There was no rain to speak of today. A few minutes of drizzle tops. But the wind. Oh my. Mostly from the northwest so hitting me from the side. Strong enough to push me sideways.
And then, in those moments when my route took me into the wind? It felt like biking through cotton.
To make matters worse, I had no legs today. Usually on day two of the RLCT I start off slow and then feel my legs fill with energy and I ride like yesterday didn’t happen. I never got to the ‘and then’ part this year.
I spent a lot of time rationalizing why Zone 1 should be the new Zone 2 and dialing down my expectations for the day. From 6:30 to ‘get home’.
Today was definitely wind karma for last year. Except for the bit where I found myself heading southeast down Appleton sideroad at 50 km/hr in Zone 2, which as it turns out is good enough for the KOM on Strava.
I did that run, Chris, back in the early 70s when Christ was just a corporal. Not sure they had a “challenge” run back then. What I remember of it (like child birth some things the mind shuts out) was that it was blazingly hot and sunny. A lot of riders had serious sun problems. My then employer, CFRA, sent me along so that I could file hourly reports from pay phones about the progress of the ride, etc. What would I know about how the rest of the ride was progressing? I was struggling to make Kingston much less keep tabs on everyone else. Truth be told, I would have been so grateful for grey and damp conditions.
Glad you made it.