Not the kind of training ride I'd recommend. But ... y'gotta look at the bright side.
Got a 2 hour late start at 9:30AM due to world responsibilities.
Training `with weight.' Three bottles and a pack full of worse case gear.
Then stopped off at the chicken coop to let the girls out.
Rode the back way, down Montezuma and on to Iron Springs. Had an `errand' at a place I had to run. They didn't mind the bike, cath, da-glo bike wear.
Took off up Iron Springs and kept it at a challenging pace. Sliding down to Skull Valley into a whippy headwind. Kept the speed down.
A `no stop' training ride. Except for the elephant near Kirkland.
I'm halfway up to Wilhoit and I needed to redo the sunblock. Starting back up I tried and tried and tried to clip into the Speedplays. Only to discover that the left pedal ... wasn't there. The `round' section of the pedal was completely absent, leaving only the 1.5 inch metal post that screws into the crank. Can't clip in if there is nothing there!
Seems that when you adjust the pedal it compromises it's ability to handle the `pull' part of the push pull complete circle pedaling process.
Resolved to carry on to the end of the route anyway. Got to MP 298 and felt the rear wheel `spongy.' A flat tire. As I'm slowly descending the hill, assessing the spongy tire, a `desperado-bandit-outlaw-renegade' hygiene-challenged motorcycle `2-by' (his fat ass rolling over both sides of the saddle) screams by, purposely hitting the noise in annoyance of me.
I flip him the bird knowing this is sort'a like a death wish. For one of us. Never know when linoleum needs cuttin'.
Rolling down the hill I reached for the Hammer Gel squeeze bottle to get some necessary nutrient only to discover that ... it had somehow slipped out of my jersey some place `back there.'
I shortly found a shady place to switch to a new tube. Tire fixed I'm back on the bike, climbing uphill.
It was getting mighty warm and I was feeling the fact that the additional time on the bike made me short of fluids. I knew I had `stashed' two bottles of water up about a mile ahead.
Got to the water stash ... not there. Somebody somehow located the bottles and they were gone.
Pushing on a thin rod for a pedal makes the foot scream with pain.
At least four vehicles went by with the driver waving `Hi Dan.' Too fast for me to identify. But there is some notoriety in being the only recumbent guy.
Finally got home. A 5+ hours training ride with 60 miles and close to 5,000 feet of climbing.
The bright side? I kept calm and considered it just another wonderful day in the neighborhood. It could have been worse. The pedal could have disassembled as I was descending Iron Springs at 50 mph, crankin' it.
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