Two Wheel Blogs

Countdown to the Tracks 'n Treads Biathalon: 21 days

Route: Belk Park Loop
Mile: 18.1
Time: 1:05.3
Pace: 16.5
Riding Tunes: My own mix of The Clash's songs that have a strong reggae influence.

Pre-Ride Checklist
[X] The Furnace
[X] Penguin Flippers
[X] Balaclava
[X] Toe warmers

We are all familiar with the adage, "Fool me one, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." When I got up this morning, the sun was shining brilliantly. I know the forecast calls for temperatures in the low to mid-50s. But that's not until later this afternoon. This morning, I figured it was still pretty cold out. So, as I prepared to ride, I resolved not to make the same mistake I did last night: under-dressing. No, instead, I chose to respect the morning cold, to give it its props, and dress accordingly. I brought out the heavyweight gear.

I only had the hour to ride and, having ridden the Marine Loop last night, the only thing to do was to benchmark Belk Park. This is my fourth outdoor ride this week -- unless I choose to count this as the start of a new week. Regardless, my previous attempts to ride a complete Belk Loop have been aborted due to snow on the trail or extreme cold. This morning, I was going to cover the whole distance.

It was good to hit the road at 8:00 a.m. Edwardsville was either still asleep or waking up slowly. Either way, I had the roads to myself as I headed out. I was still tired from last night's ride, and my body was waking up slowly. Still, I made it to Belk and came out the other side of the park in about 32 minutes. Not bad. As I turned onto Buchta, I found the wind was now in my face, meaning it had been gently assisting me on the way out. "No matter," I thought. "I'll ride as hard as I can into it, and when I turn onto Moreland, it will be at my side." This was a good morning for just putting the helmet down and riding forward. I was not sightseeting or taking in the lovely morning scenery. I was just trying to make the front wheel spin as fast and as frequently as possible.

When I got to the intersection with IL-143, I was at the 44-minute mark. If I humped it, I figured could get home in under 1:05. So that's what I did. Working up as much strength as I could summon, I pushed down Wanda to the Watershed Trail, then tried to keep my pace above 16 mph for the final drive home. My Cat Eye showed 1:04 as I pushed up the Union Street hill, then turning onto the level of Second Street, I mounted my version of a sprint. Someone else would call it merely "pedalling hard." For me, today, it was a "sprint." I wanted to get home in under 1:05.

But it was not be me. As I turned onto Eberhart, I could see the Cat Eye now read 1:05. "That's okay," I figured. "At least, it's not going to say 1:06." And with that, I maintained my pace until I rolled into my driveway at 1:05.30. A good morning's effort. And best of all, I was not cold. Heavyweight gear, you did your job.