I am so tired today. I guess that’s what happens when you get up at 6 a.m., ride 40 miles on your bike, then go out to lunch, wander the mall, come home, and have to draft a baseball team until 11:30 at night. Whew!
The 40-miler yesterday was quite an experience. It was 1) the farthest I’ve ridden since the bike ride across North Carolina I did the summer after 9th grade, 2) the first time I’ve ridden in the rain, and 3) the first time I’ve ever ridden in any sort of bike tour/race thingy. I also learned that I should possibly invest in 1) a waterproof windbreaker/shell and 2) some sort of shoes to wear while biking that don’t soak up water like tennis shoes (and all their cushioning) do.
When the race started, it was overcast, but by the time we got over the Kemah bridge (about 10 miles into the ride) the rain had started. At first it was a light drizzle, but it grew to a steady rain. At first I was annoyed. “This sucks,” I thought to myself as my cotton t-shirt got soaked, and my tennis shoes became boats, and mud splattered all over my back from my back tire, and mud splattered all over my front from the back tires of the bikers ahead of me.
But as the ride went on, the rain abated a bit (though it never stopped entirely), and it stopped bothering me. There comes a point where I think your body just becomes saturated with water, and you don’t notice how wet you are anymore! By mile 25, I was laughing at the absurdity of it all. Here we were, literally hundreds of bikers in the rain, covered in mud, just chugging along, legs pumping. All the people who drove past us must have thought we were insane.
In the end, I did have a good time, and I was pleasantly surprised at how I felt. I averaged 16 miles an hour for a total time of exactly 2.5 hours, and was still feeling strong at the end. I feel like I could have done the 60 mile ride without major issue; my legs were still feeling good. My butt and back and neck were starting to feel sore, but nothing too horrible. It went well enough that I’m considering signing up for another MS150 warm-up ride, a 60-miler, in a couple weeks over in Katy.
Anyway, I crossed the finish line, scarfed down a banana and an orange and a Coke, then went home, gave my bike a good wipe down to get all the water and dirt off it (it’s one of the more expensive things I own; I should probably treat it well, eh?), walked in the front door to my apartment, and basically stripped right there. Just inside the front door is one of the only places in my apartment that isn’t carpeted, and I’m not kidding when I say you should have seen how covered-in-mud I was. My white socks and white t-shirt were brown. I didn’t want to get it all over the carpet, so I just took everything off and left it in a big wet pile at the front door until I had showered and cleaned up and was ready to put it all in the washing machine. I was really a mess; I should have taken a picture.
This morning I climbed on my bike just for a moment to see how I felt sitting on the seat again, since the MS150 will involve riding a hundred miles, then doing another 70 the next day. Yeah. My butt didn’t like being on a bike seat this morning. Hmm.
Anyway. As for my other major Sunday activity…
I am feeling very blah about the fantasy baseball team I drafted last night, but as George pointed out this morning, I’m always unsatisfied with my team after the draft. For those interested:
C – Jason Kendall
1B – Richie Sexson
2B – Bret Boone
3B – Bill Mueller
SS – Rafael Furcal
OF – Gary Sheffield
OF – Torii Hunter
OF – Richard Hidalgo
OF – Trot Nixon
OF – Reggie Sanders
OF – Jay Payton
OF – Carl Everett
OF – Cliff Floyd
3B – Eric HinskeSP – Curt Schilling
SP – Kevin Brown
SP – Greg Maddux
SP – Mark Redman
SP – Livan Hernandez
RP – Octavio Dotel
RP – Trevor Hoffman
RP – Francisco Cordero
RP – Shawn Chacon
SP – Ted Lilly
Of course you see what the big problem is. I have a buttload of outfielders, which is totally unnecessary, no backups for my infielders, and not enough extra pitchers. My draft strategy last night sucked. And the move from 8 teams to 10 teams threw me off way more than I’d expected. In any case, we’ll see what happens.
