I had my 2nd team training Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. The FW & Dallas team decided to meet at TMS & train together so there was about 30-40 of us which was pretty cool! If you haven’t been to TMS, let me tell you the wind is FIERCE! It was cloudy all day & quite cold although some of my teammates were walking around in shorts & a short sleeve shirt. Call me a wimp but 40’s & windy is COLD! It started out somewhat windy while we were having our “fix a flat” training for those (me) who don’t know how to fix a flat on a bike. Of course, as we hop on our bikes the wind began blowing like crazy. There are no buildings near TMS other than the racetrack itself so the wind just barrels across the large parking lots.
We started out nice & steady and I thought, “oh this isn’t so bad” as I made it around the first half of the 5 mile loop. As I rounded the second half I ran straight into 16mph head wind. It was like hitting a wall. My poor legs were pedaling like crazy yet I really wasn’t going all that fast. I took 2 laps around the speedway before stopping & taking a break at the checkpoint.
On lap 3 I met up with my mentor, John, and a fellow FW teammate, Kimberly, so that we could work on pace lines. Kimberly and I are both new to cycling so John was kind enough to give us a lesson on how pace lines work, etc. Surprisingly it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of it & boy was it easier to ride through the wind! AMAZING! My goal was to do the advanced training plan, knowing full well that I am not advanced but that never stopped me before, and do 35 miles, however, I was only able to complete 30. I rested after 30 & thought I could do one more lap, but Coach Albert decided I better not since the wind picked up even more AND 30 is plenty. I am glad I took his advice because I was really struggling with the head wind on the back half of the loop and my butt was KILLING me! Have you seen the size of road bike seats? Yeah, well they’re small! Y-OUCH!
This ride was a poker ride, so we were to stop at the checkpoint after each lap to collect a card from a deck of cards. I had a terrible hand (thanks to Brandon for pointing that out because I had NO idea what a good or bad hand was. I’m no poker player) & my only good card was a King. Apparently lots of people had bad hands as well because I actually won a prize - a water bottle! I could use another water bottle! :-) Other prizes people won were helmets & other riding gear, energy bars, etc. Pretty exciting end to a great ride!
Okay, so I was given this sheet from my coach titled, “Summer Training Schedule”. It basically is a layout of what workouts we should be doing every day that will enable us to be ready for the century ride in June. I mentioned this because if any of you know how hard it is to get in a shower during the day with 2 young kids let alone a full on workout. I want to be ready for the 100 miles in June so I have to bite the bullet & begin my workouts after 10-11pm or later depending on Gracelyn’s schedule that particular day. At least the girls sleep in until 9am? I don’t care what it takes, I WILL complete the 100 miles in June – even if it takes a full 24 hours to complete.. I WILL DO IT!
-Rachael
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