Thanks for all the comments on my 100 mile day! I definitely am still recovering. Yesterday I walked for 2 miles and that felt fine. I noticed some wrist soreness still and then when John and I went out on the scooter yesterday, I had soreness in my saddle area! That is pretty unusual for me, but really not unexpected. Even breaking the ride into chunks, it is still a lot of miles. It took me a day to get fully hydrated again, too.
I woke up this morning contemplating a short ride to test the waters, but then decided not to. I certainly could use another day off from the bike. I made up some breakfast after being productive with vacuuming and scrubbing the back porch to prep for painting. Not sure where all that energy came from, but whatever.
1-minute muffin (applesauce version)
Had a nice work morning today. It feels relaxed. I think just having my ride over makes me relaxed. Even though it was not a formal event, I still put some pressure on myself for training as if it were.
Our temps are starting to warm up around here, but certainly not as hot as the south! I made up a nice cool lunch to eat on the porch.
Greek yogurt, berries, and Newman’s Own Honey Flax flakes.
I had some questions on the ride that I thought I might answer here today.
1. Flat tire issues. I did not get a chance to get the super puncture resistant tire as they did not have my size at the bike shop (who says size problems only happen with clothes??). Almost all of our flats can be traced to a foreign object in the tire, so we just seem to have a string of incredibly bad luck going on. I’ll take a flat tire over a crash any day, though.
2. The stops at home. The original plan for the 100 mile day a few months ago was basically for both of us to bike 50 miles away and back. There were several reasons I did loops closer to home. One was being by myself. For safety reasons, I wanted to be on known roads and accessible to a family member if need be. The other was the tire issue. I didn’t want to get stranded really far from home if I had something disastrous happen. The side benefit to coming home was being able to restock my water and fuel and not have to carry tons of stuff with me. Leaving the house the first time was not a problem. I had trouble before the last 15 miles and did not stay inside longer than to grab water and try to use the bathroom.
3. What do I carry all of said snacks in? I have a bike rack on the back of my bike with a removable bag. I cannot stand to wear a backpack when I bike. I get too sweaty and it tires out my shoulders. We have the Topeak system, which I adore. Lots of interchangeable components to it.
The cool thing about this bag is that it has a detachable shoulder strap so I can slide it out of the rack and take it with me when off the bike like a purse.
4. How do I know what snacks to bring? This has been trial and error of the last couple of years. We always plan our rides around some sort of food, whether that is lunch, dinner, cupcakes, coffee, whatever. So we always know where we will be stopping for that snack. What I bring with to eat depends on how long it takes to get there. I like to have about 100 – 200 calories every 15 miles or so. The best way to get that is in the form of dried fruit (or regular fruit) or bars. I don’t do gels or stuff like that. Can’t stomach them. I do love coconut water, though. I have a large insulated water bottle that I fill up at most every stop we make, too. I drink a good amount when riding, but could probably do better.
5. What’s next? Really, nothing is next. LOL! That was my big fitness goal for the year since running is out for now. This ride was easier than last year’s 100 miles. For one, because I actually knew this was the day I was to do that ride, and I was very well trained for it. We do have a group ride this weekend which will be fun. It’s about 35 miles. Other than that, I am going to enjoy my summer rides and not worry about having to get in X number of miles for training. Not to mention all the other things that need to get done around here that I have put off (cleaning, painting, weeding, going to the library, that stuff). I can also get back to eating more normally instead of having this constant hunger (or I hope that goes away at any rate).
Speaking of eating, I had a refreshing iced latte for a snack today. (Note I still have not done my caffeine free week yet. Must roast my decaf).
Plus some blueberries.
John cooked up extra chicken on the grill last night, so you know what I had to have for dinner tonight!
Are you getting tired of seeing this salad on my blog? I have to get more experimental again.
I have noticed that I am less hungry today. Yesterday I was still fairly hungry and let myself eat when I was really wanting something. I was really craving salt, likely from sweating so much the day before.
I have a snack of some fresh pineapple and a side of peanuts for tonight.
This pineapple is soooo good! I just can’t ever go back to canned unless I am cooking with it.
Feels good to be back to normal eating. I am taking Shelley’s example of doing the right thing this week and working on my next goal of moving the scale.
Question: Do you like pineapple?