Two Wheel Blogs

... and my legs are dead!"

Countdown to the Tracks 'n Treads Biathalon: 26 days

Route: The Three Sisters
Time: About an hour
Miles: About 14
Tunes: Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, GLOBAL A-GO GO!

I had to ride tonight. Had to. Last week, I ran on Friday and Saturday, planning to do a long ride on Sunday. That was before I found out about the Track 'n Tread biathalon at SIU-E on March 27th. As soon as I did, I had to sign up for it. And as soon as I signed up, I had to benchmark the course.

Well, as I posted yesterday, I got the run in, but the ride didn't happen. So tonight, I needed to pedal something somewhere. Cold as it was (the radio said 39 as I drove home) I could not bring myself to go back to the Y. The idea of spinning on the stationary, even in heated comfort and with the TV on, just didn't appeal to me. I needed to move myself over real ground under my own power. Once I got home from work, I suited up and headed out. I figured I could ride for an hour before it got too dark.

I was thinking about where to ride went it occurred to me: what's the point of living in the middle of one of the hilliest sections of Edwardsville if you don't take advantage of it? So I decided to ride the hills of M Street, Eberhart, and Locust. I call them "The Three Sisters," as each has its own personality.

• Eberhart, the street on which I live, is the longest climb, but the grade is the gentlest.
• M Street, which paralells Eberhart, is shorter, but the grade is a little steeper.
• Locust is the shortest and steepest of the three.

For once, I dressed appropriate for the temperature, and my gear worked perfectly. Intially, my fingers were a little cold, but they warmed up. And my toes did start to get cold near the end. But for the most part, I was comfortable.

I started out doing five climbs on M Street, then I alternated climbs on Locust and Eberhart until I done five on each of them. Mind you, these are not huge hills. Such a thing as a "huge hill" does not exist in Madison County. But they are hills, and thery're right out my front door. After my last climb, I decided to treat myself to a little level for a change, so I rode the mile to downtown, then turned around and headed back. The best part is that, when I got home, Diane had whipped up some dirty rice with turkey sausage. After a hard ride on a cold night, it was the perfect dinner to come home to, and it was delicious.

For having just the one hour to ride, I'd say I got the most out of my time tonight. Now, the trick is to keep it up.