Two Wheel Blogs

Normally, tonight would have been the Chesterfield Valley ride. But I'm racing on Saturday, so I didn't need a hard ride tonight. Plus, I'm enjoying being home at about the same time I'd be getting in my car and starting to drive the 50 minutes home from Chesterfield.

The high school cross country team was working out at the SIUE course tonight, so I figured I'd joing them. I've not ridden my cyclocross bike since March, when I did the Tracks 'n Treads biathlon. I've been meaning to, but whenever I've gone for a ride, it's my road bike that's come out of the basement. But not tonight.

I packed my running gear and a cooler and put them in my son's car. (He would be coming out to run with the team as well.) Then I pedaled out to SIUE. Once there, I hit one of the trails for a while, then rode to where the team was getting ready. I've always loved the relaxed ritual of warm-ups before a run on a summer night. It's been a long time since I was part of it. It was good to be back.

After a half-mile warm-up run followed by stretches, we headed for the second mile of the course ... y'know, the one with the wicked hill in the middle off it. I did three loops on the second mile of the course. That means three climbs up that hasty each hill, each one slower than the one before. After the last one, I drank some water, then did a half-mile cool down. In all, I ran for 33 minutes, which is what I wanted to do. Then I got back into my biking gear and hit another trail before heading home.

No, it wasn't as hard of a workout as if I had ridden the Chesterfield Valley, but that's okay. It was a good night.