Two Wheel Blogs

Yesterday was the kind of day that only brings out the crazies. Any normal, well minded cyclist would look outside, see trees being bent in half, and come to the conclusion that it may not be the best day to ride. Throw in chilly temps, and cloudy skys, and you've got a recipe for a shit day.

But with gust of winds up to 30+ mph, I knew that it was a day to find a hellava tailwind. I grabbed the TT bike and set out to show the wind who was boss. Didn't take but about 5 minutes before that was tested. I lost. The wind was so brutal that it would slow you down when pedaling downhills. Oh, but that's only half of the story. You see I love days like yesterday, especially if I have a sweet route in which I can catch a tailwind.

I rode over to Highway D, and blew about 6 miles with a massive tailwind. Big ringing the smallest cog, dropped down, and flying. For a brief moment you get the feeling of this is what it's like to be a Tour rider. A kick ass tailwind like that is the only way I'll get to feel that way.

So that was fun, the 20 minute grid back wasn't. Days like yesterday are also the perfect day to go out and feel what it used to feel like the first time you got on a bike and tried a hard ride. I'm pretty sure the wind put a collar on me, and made me it's, well you get the point. There were times where it hurt like hell just trying to hold 5 mph. Brutal. I felt like a complete newb. From the high of a tour rider, to the grueling pain of a newb, all within 15 minutes. You gotta love that...

So after about an hour, I got the idea to ride from Warrensburg down to Sedalia. Just a bit over 25 miles... I had plans on riding back with a friend. The beauty, it was all with a tailwind. So I took off, blasting off past 30 like nothing. Grinding a straight, and I feel the rim touch real nice with a rock. Snake bite... Ah hell no, it finally happened. After 2 and a half years, and aroudn 4,000 miles on the road, I've never had a flat. Yesterday was the first... Luckily I had a sweet pair of Maxxis tire levers and I had the flat changed and pumped up with my small handpump in a little over 5 minutes.

I was back on my way, and spent the rest of the hour hammering out the miles and dodging rocks by the millions. I reached Sedalia in 55 minutes, without the flat. That's about a 27 mph average, solo. Yup, that's the kind of wind we had. The route is fairly flat with some rolling hills, but the dang shoulder is only like a couple of feet wide and you have cars and semi's flying past doing 70 mph. Oh, and right when I hit the first stop light in Sedalia while doing my last big sprint, I flatted again. Not once but twice I flatted yesterday, and this time I had no tube to replace it with. So I called Jamie, and she came and picked my ass up at Colton's, and then took me home.

Yesterday was a bittersweet ride. It was f*ing awesome though, I guess the wind can be good for something once in a while... LIKE DRYING OUT TRAILS!!!!!