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Change of planz, report
posted by Philip Schmidt :: Jan 26, 2008 :: 07:18 PM 
Comments (1) »

I got nothing like the war stories coming out of P.R. -- but I'm very glad to hear that everyone is alright down there. Two crashes with minimal (sorta) injuries is what I call bad and good luck. I had some of that mix myself today. Got up to a frosty morning in Charlottesville (wild night at Applebees the night before--me and all the, uh, hefty folks in that neck of the woods, just gobblin down the calories). The temp was a balmy 24 when I woke up at 6:30, so I decided to lay in bed a little while longer. Rolled out around 8, with full water bottles and a Clif Protein bar under my belt. I wanted to get some miles in and then stop for a real breakfast.

The ride from Charlottesville to Culpeper is NOT FLAT. I would get up to the top of one hill and see another, or another 15 ahead of me. Luckily the legs were feeling good, and the temp was about 28, which was a little more tolerable. The hills went on for the 45 miles into Culpeper, where I stopped for "breakfast," again at the aptly named Frost Cafe.

While I was eating, I IMed with Laurel, who told me that Sunday was not gonna be any warmer, and that in fact there were predictions of snow. I decided on the spot to throw in the towel (so to speak) and ride the 75 miles back to DC, to avoid another freezing morning and especially one with SNOW.

A couple hours later I rolled into Manassas, and had a nice latte, and another clif bar. By this time it was around 2 p.m., and I had eaten two clif bars, a breakfast and some gu. This proved to be a mistake, as I was bonking pretty hard coming into DC. Lesson learned.

One other little mishap: I missed a turn and ended up on Rt. 50 for much of the way from Fairfax into the city. I had been riding on 4 lane highways, but this was a divided 6-laner. Combo that with some bad shoulders, bonking, and the beginning of dusk, and it was a dangerous situation.

I made it, however, and jumped in an epsom salt bath, which was just what I needed.Final milage: 119. Temp at roll in: 35. Brrr. 

I figure I'll run with the DCTri gang tomorrow and spend a little (2 hours??) on the trainer, to get the lead out.

Epic weekend for Phil? Well, 236 miles, solo, in sub-35 (and sub-30) degrees, with a backpack? Yeah, I'd call that epic enough to qualify as xtreme.




Comments:
Talk about mental toughness!!!
by: Andrea - 02/06/2008 06:39 PM
WOW Phil! Congrats! I would call that EPIC for sure. And I cant believe you did the whole ride alone. Good for you! we need that type of mental training!


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