I’ve been running, biking, playing soccer, climbing, and engaging in all sorts of athletic pursuits on a regular basis for about three years now, and I’d never really experienced the “jelly legs” phenomenon. Until yesterday.
I had planned to do a 40-mile bike ride as part of my last-ditch efforts to get at least somewhat ready for the MS150, but I woke up to overcast skies, chilly weather, and tons of wind. I put off riding until about 4:00, at which point I realized that it wasn’t going to warm up, the wind wasn’t going to die down, and that if I didn’t go for at least some sort of ride, then I would be totally shooting myself in the foot.
So out I went. Part of my hesitation in the morning was that I don’t have long sleeve bike jerseys or long bike pants, and riding in mid-50s weather would be pretty chilly! I solved that problem by wearing a long sleeve shirt underneath a short sleeve top, and running tights underneath my bike shorts.
The wind was something I couldn’t solve. It was so windy. It was so windy that there were a couple times I thought I might get blown off the road. So windy that the trees were swaying heavily. So windy that when I went over the Kemah Bridge twice, I coasted down one side at almost 40 mph feathering my brakes to keep from going any faster, and then coasted down on the return trip at 15 mph. On any normal, calm day it would be impossible to coast down that bridge at less than 30 mph, and yesterday the wind slowed me down to 15.
That is windy.
I ended up riding 25 miles, and it was a struggle. There were a couple times when, with the wind at my back, I cruised along at 25 mph on flat ground; that’s pretty fast for me. But then coming home along NASA Road 1, it was all I could do to maintain 12 mph.
When I got home, I walked up the stairs to my apartment so that I could hit the garage opener and put my bike away. Walking up the stairs was fine, but when I started to go back down, strange things happened. I took one step. Hmm, that felt weird. I took another step. Whoa, what’s wrong with my legs? I took a third step. Help!! I had to clutch the railing as my leg threatened to just crumple underneath me. They felt all rubbery, and sort of numb, and I went down the rest of the stairs very, very carefully.
I thought I’d had tired legs before, but it turns out that I’d never truly experienced jelly legs until yesterday.
