Miles: 63 Climb: 552
Total Miles: 1939
I took it easy today. I'm having pain in my leg after the hard day with the fast guys yesterday and we have a century ride tomorrow. Instead of highway today we rode a scenic country road through beautiful rural, Kansas countryside. We are heading north, and this part of Kansas is rolling. The wheat fields have been cut and many farmers were working on a second crop. The contrast of the gold wheat fields and the green pastures was stunning. The rural countryside was beautiful, the road surface was smooth, and the air was fresh from rain. We had a warm, gentle rain that kept the temperature cool, so it was a really nice ride. This was the first day of rain we've had since we left San Francisco. The fast guys rode really fast today, so I rode alone and enjoyed every mile of it. At a little more than 24 miles into the ride, we crossed the "official" halfway point for miles via the ABB Cross Country Challenge route. We are now closer to New Hampshire than San Francisco! Yahoo!
Abilene, Kansas is the home of the Eisenhower Library and Museum. Some of us made a visit there this afternoon.
I am really excited to be more than halfway done. I am having pain in the back of my left knee, at the top of the calf muscle. We have no trainer or doctor on the trip, except for Hans from the Netherlands who is a retired gynecologist, which isn't the kind of help I need right now. I did a Google search and determined the problem is likely from riding too long yesterday in a big gear at a hard pace. The recommendation in the article was to rest, which isn't an option of this tour. So I am icing, stretching, taking ibuprofen and will be riding in an easier gear at higher cadence tomorrow. I also raised my seat just a tiny bit tonight to see if that helps. The bikes were especially dirty from the rain, so cleaning them this evening was more tedious and time consuming than usual.
I am eager to get on with the second half of the tour starting tomorrow. Tomorrow's ride is 107 miles. Forecast is for rain all day and maybe wind, again from the east.
Congratulations on reaching this half-way milestone. Most people haven't driven as far on a trip as you have ridden on your bike - props to you big time! One of the best things I ever learned was that lungs and heart recover much much faster those leg muscles. I hope the higher cadence and seat adjustment relieves some strain for you.
ReplyDeleteHang in there Laura and take care of yourself - you have a lot more riding to do and you want to enjoy it!! Sorry about rain tomorrow, but you guys have been lucky so far!! LOL Carole
ReplyDeleteComin home. Sounds good. You modified what you could and iced and took vitamin I for all that ails you. When I was kayaking a lot, I often said, "with Ibuprofen, I be boatin". Hope it works as well for you today as it did so many times for me on the river.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping you don't notice your knee today, you'll probably will be too focused on the rain :-).
Have a good ride and with 107 at the end of the day, you will have taken another big bite into the second half of the trip.
Halfway - woohoo!
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