So Easily Forgotten

Early AM brought a road trip up to Square Lake, a very pretty area up near Stillwater. Trevor was going up to do an open water swim and ride the bike course in preparation for the Square Lake Triathlon on September 12. (I'm calling the rematch between Trevor and Dan Strain the Square Lake Square Off. Ask one of them the story about last year. :-)

Jen, Dan, Andy (with medal) and Trevor at the Rochester Half yesterday

He welcomed the company and I love a road trip. So off we went. The early lift-off was necessitated by the fact that Trevor had to catch a 1:20 flight to Boston. On the way up, he shared a funny little story with me which he gave me permission to post. His wife Helen just bought a new bike and she was having a few little issues with the saddle. One day Trevor came home and found two Dr. Scholl's-type heel gel inserts Saran-wrapped to the side of her saddle for comfort. :-) So funny! And clever. :-) Anyway, we arrived at Square Lake without incident.

I decided that I just didn't feel like getting into my wetsuit at 7 AM for a chilly swim, so I decided I would take a few pix and just toodle around the area while Trevor swam.

 We were unloading the bikes and Trevor asked if I'd seen a silver backpack in the SUV. Negative. Uh oh. No cycling threads. No swim goggles. No towel. I offered him my second pair of cycling shorts--size small Skirt Sports short shorts with pink stitching. He declined :-) but he did take me up on the goggles and towel. Trevor decided he'd cycle anyway ...

looking ultra cool in his cargo shorts and T-shirt on his super-fancy Quintana Roo tri bike!! Poor guy. By the end of the ride he had some serious chafing issues. After my initial toodling around, I came back to the SUV to put on my second pair of shorts over my tri shorts ... (my nose looks HUGE and that helmet has GOT to come down on my forehead)

as those just don't enough padding and I didn't want to be feeling those sitz bones for all those miles. I took my glasses off, put on the second pair of shorts (in hindsight I should have just changed in the car instead of wearing two pair) and then we were ready to roll. Wait a minute ... where are my shades? I looked everywhere. In the SUV. On the bumper. On the ground. And wouldn't you know it ... they were right where I left them ... on the bottom of the windshield at the end of the hood. Mystery solved. But we could tell this was going to be an interesting morning...

It was a very good ride in my book. Windy and very hilly. I didn't reset my bike computer after my initial toodling around so after subtracting the time and mileage for that from the final numbers, Trevor and I rode 29.8 miles in 1.48 hours for an average pace of 20.13 mph. On that course and with the wind, that was a good ride. My total mileage for the morning was 37.2 miles. At about mile 23 or 24 I think, this guy on a tri bike with a triple water bottle holder on the back, shaved legs, nice bike, nice clothes ... passes us. Trevor was pulling at that time.

 Well, I don't really like to be passed. At all. So after a few minutes, I decided we :-) or at least I :-) was going to chase this guy down. We were on one of the very few flat stretches of road on the course. He had about 1/8 mile on us so it was going to be work to catch him. Trevor tucked in behind and later said that he just smiled and knew what I was up to. I looked down at my computer during the chase and we were doing 22 to about 23.4 mph. I'm not sure how long it took to catch him, but when we did I gave Trevor a quick thumbs up. I don't know if it's proper cycling etiquette, but I tucked in behind him for a couple of minutes to recover. Then I pulled alongside him and told him he could tuck in behind us. He said no, that's OK but actually he ended up doing it anyway after we got chatting. I practiced my over-the-shoulder picture taking on the ride ...

Where ARE they?

THERE they are!

Turns out he is doing the Square Lake Tri also and is from St. Paul. His name is Matt and his company put up the dome at RCTC. Small world. Anyway, he was a nice guy. I asked him for a picture for my blog and he said sure.

We arrived back at Square Lake and Trevor said he could cycle for 20 more minutes if we wanted. Well, with his tight schedule for the morning I thought it was best that we just get going. We'd ridden the whole course. Good thing we left. On the ride home, Trevor found out that his phone was working and he could see some moisture behind the touch screen. The phone wouldn't do anything and he was leaving for Boston shortly where his phone would be an absolute necessity. I felt so sorry for him. I don't know how that part of the story ends. I'll text him and find out ...

You know what? I'm really enjoying all the cycling. Haven't tried running for many days (who knows ... I might be able to run just fine) and I have to say, I'm enjoying the change of pace. I'm not all hung up on or stressed out about not running, truth be told. There's more to life than running. I took this to show my cycle shorts tan line but it doesn't show up very well.

Anyway, that, and the line at the top of my socks and the nifty little circles on the back of my hands are dead giveaways that I've been spending lots more time on the bike.

When I got home from Stillwater today, it was just before 11:00 and I decided to go swim at the Y for an hour just before noon. The pool was quiet, which was nice. I had a good swim ... after having to purchase a new swim cap. Argghhh. Par for the morning. I'd left mine in my other bag and didn't feel like driving home to get it. So now I have a spare.

After the swim I was in need of a nap after getting up at 4:30 AM for two mornings in a row. At 3:00 I decided to finish up my miles for the day as I wanted at least 60. So I rode another 31 and called it good. That was a WICKED south wind this afternoon. I couldn't wait to turn around. And the cross winds were blowing me around something terrible. On the east/west stretches past Salem Corners and east of Salem Corners I could barely control the bike. But I got 'er done and I'm none the worse for wear.

I'll post the Rochester Half Marathon, Lace-Up stuff, and my HyVee bargain tomorrow. Bed is calling. First, a toenail update. It's an ugly nail. I'm not sure if it's alive or dead. The texture and color are definitely different than a healthy nail. I hope I keep it anyway, as protection for the nail bed. Time will tell.

Until tomorrow. Good night.