Two Wheel Blogs

Route: Marine Loop with Silver Lake extension
Time: 2:51
Miles: 41.7
Pace: 14.5

Riding Tunes: Afro-Celtic Sound System, until my iPod died about one hour into the ride. In retrospect, I should have taken it as a sign.

I probably shouldn't have ridden today. I didn't feel like it. Or rather, I wanted to ride, but my body was telling me, "No, don't. You'd feel much better riding the couch." But I refused to listen to it. Instead, I made myself go out and ride for three uninspiring hours.

As I look back, it seems like Sunday is the day when the rest of my week finally catches up with me. On more than one occasion, my Sunday pattern has been:

1. Eat the lunch buffet at Mr. Curry's.
2. Take a nap.
3. Go for a ride.

And, in the now four weeks that I've been trying to determine if I can run, I have always ridden first, then run. But not today. Before going to Mr. Curry's, I ran my 1.9-mile route at an 8:15/mile pace, which is a "hard pace" for me right now. I don't think I fully appreciated how much that took out of me.

I decided to ride the Marine Loop with the extension out to Silver Lake. Normally, that should take about two and a half hours. But as I set out, my legs felt like lead. I figured they were just tired, that they'd wake up once I got rolling. All I needed to do was put a few miles on the Cat Eye, and my legs would pick up the pace.

They never did. I plodded along at a very pedestrian pace of 13-14 mph. A few times, with the benefit of a favorable wind or a slight downhill, I got up to 17 or so, but never for long and never wholly under my own power. I dutifully covered the miles and completed the route, but the whole time I felt like a dead man riding. Sure, it was good to be out on the bike, and the countryside was lovely. But as far as rides go, this one went about 42 miles in almost three hours, and that's about all there is to be said for it.

However...

That evening, my wife, Diane, and I got to attend the kickoff dinner for the Tour of Missouri at the City Museum. Boz and I work for Edward Jones Investments, a major sponsor of the event, and the firm had two tables to fill. Thanks to Boz, I was invited to attend. (Thanks, Boz!)

I don't follow pro cycling. I don't know the riders and their teams as I should. I know I should, but I don't. I've just ridden. Like most Americans, whether they bike or not, my knowledge of the pro cycling world is pretty much limited to the names of the three Americans who gained notoreity by winning the Tour de France:

• Greg Lemond
• Lance Armstrong
• Floyd Landis

Despite that, I was very happy to be in the crowd to applaud for the teams who would be riding the Tour of Missouri as they were presented. (I got my picture taken with Team Astana while they waited to ride the ferris wheel on the City Museum's roof.) The whole evening was wonderful, and it helped to take the sting out of my having just spent the afternoon plodding along on a very unexceptional ride.