Miles Ridden: 52.9
Avg Speed: 17.3 mph
Avg Heart Rate: 117
bpm
Climbing: 1,381 ft
Calories Burned: 1,954
Short ... Interstate ... Tailwind ... Knee Improving ... Fast ...
A cyclist longs for days like today, especially those nursing a sore knee. After a fun and needed rest day yesterday ... oh wait, a photo from lunch that did not make yesterday's blog:
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| Decadent Desserts At The Ram (Mark, Mark, Jeff, and Katie) |
After the rest day, my right knee was still sore. I wrapped it in an ace bandage and
Helen provided me a pain patch. Maybe it was that combination, or maybe it was positive thinking, or maybe it was the awesome tail wind we had , or maybe it was the short (53 miles) and mostly flat route... or maybe it was all of these. The result was a great day for all including some blazing fast speeds and finishing times.
With the shorter day, we slept in and did not have breakfast until 7:00 and headed out around 8:15. The first 7 miles was on the Boise
Greenway path. A little bumpy, but scenic. Almost all of the
ABB riders came together at the end of the path. We had are first (and only major) climb after that. Nice views of Boise. I tested my knee and stood throughout the climb. A good sign and minimal discomfort.
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| Boise Greenway Path |
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| Goodbye Boise ... |
I waved goodbye to the Thoroughbreds and dialed in a comfortable, but quick pace. I reached Beth from Colorado and we settled in to a nice rhythm together. As we entered the interstate for a 12 mile stint, the wind was graciously at our backs. Beth and I cruised ... we were pushing 25-30 mph with what seemed like minimal effort. On top of that the highway was pretty clean of debris. A few other riders (including my roommate Dave) got flats, but significantly less than the typical interstate day. By the 25 mile mark and only SAG stop, we had caught almost all of the fastest riders.
From the SAG stop, we left the highway for some classic back roads. Virtually no traffic in either direction. Kay and Jay joined us for a blazingly fast run into Mountain Home, Idaho. Not a lot to look at and somehow we missed the little guy on the fence of one of the ranches.
Sandy caught it and sent along a great picture. Our pace was consistently above 20 mph. Even with the slow 7 miles on the bike path, we clocked in at just over 3 hours of riding time (17.3 mph).
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| Following the Interstate ... Seemed We Were Going Almost As Fast |
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| You Could See Forever |
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| Did I Say Flat ... |
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| Great Views of the Idaho Peaks |
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| Sandy Always Finds The Best Stuff ... |
As we made the turn toward the town, I yelled to my group to stop for one of those great signs from the road ... the picture speaks for itself. Beth and Kay were happy to oblige and might have been the inspiration for the sign?
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| "Live Rude Girls" |
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| My Riding Partners ... |
With an 11:30 arrival there was plenty of time to shower and garb some lunch. Dave and I hit the Subway and then sat in on our tour guide,
Mike Munk's, flat tire clinic. A great refresher for me and I picked up a pointer or two. I must find the Speed Lever ...
REI has it. Maybe I'll get it shipped. After the clinic, I spent some time with
Michael Louis. Michael and his son Matt are riding a tandem for Huntington's Disease in honor of Michael's dad. Michael is a Physical Therapist and is also extremely skilled in
Myofascial Release. He worked on my knee to help realign it and then spent time aligning my pelvis (it was way out of whack). Michael also showed me a series of exercises I can do ti help
strengthen my knee and help minimize the discomfort. We spent over an hour together ... Thanks Michael!
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| Michael Was a Big Help Today ... |
Dinner was at
AJ's across the street. Good salad and a hearty helping of pasta. A much longer day await tomorrow as we ride 97 miles to Twins Fall, Idaho. Temperatures could be a factor ... let's hope my knee is not.
Good night moon ... good night knee helpers (Helen and Michael) ... good night blazing speeds ... good night tail winds (please come out to play again tomorrow ... good night Baltimore's Best (my girls had ribs there tonight ... see you soon) ...good night Mike (positive thoughts).
