Class Is Now In Session

Yesterday was another beautiful day-in fact this whole week has been spectacular and for people who have been jones'in for the outdoors it has been opportune.  Me being one of those people I decided to do my first legitimate road bike workout.

Before I left I went on LiveStrong.com to map out a route-they have a great feature that can help you do this, I highly recommend it.  The loop I charted was about 11.62 miles.  I was going conservative because, as I mentioned in my last blog, I have not spent much actual time on the road.  This ride was meant to acclimate myself with the bike and road cycling.  The course looked easy enough.  Watts Hill Road to Bryn Mawr Road to Oregon Turnpike to 191S which brings me home.  Here is the link to the route let call it the Watts Hill Intention.
The Big Picture:Drive the route you plan on riding if you are not extremely familiar with the area.

Lesson 1: Learn the Terrain
Now granted this route goes behind my house and explores the beautiful Wayne county countryside-I should know it.  But I don't and I paid dearly.  If you would like to refer to the topographical layout underneath the map at the above link you will find that the first 2.5 miles is a 400 ft climb.  Some of you seasoned cyclists are thinking "Big Deal."  I will tell you this...yes big deal for me.

Lesson 2: Scout Trouble Spots
Then come to find out, a whole mile and a half of Watts Hill road is dirt (didn't know that) most of it was pretty hard paced but being that it is spring in NEPA there were plenty of soft parts.  Did you know Road bikes are not make to go through soft mud? (don't worry Brad everything is still clean)

Lesson 3: Confirmation of the Route
There was a point where the dirt road split, one went uphill, the other went downhill.  Being totally blasted from my climb my head cried "Thank You Thank You Thank You for this downhill onto pavement"  I couldn't see where the other road went, but I was pretty sure I did not want to find out.  Turns out, that was my turn.  And my route went from the Watts Hill Intention to what I am calling the Watts Hill Insanity

I remember looking down at the odometer at mile 8 thinking "Somebody lied!" Either the odometer was way off or the map system was way off, because I had a general understanding of where I was definitely going father than 11.62 miles.  When the sign said ' <------Honesdale 9'  I laughed out loud-beared down and rode as fast as I could.  Luckily the second half of the route was not nearly as punishing as the first.  You can see that there was a down hill section of about 1 mile which allowed me some decent speed and some rest on the legs.

The whole route was 17.07 and it was stellar!  I really do live in a gorgeous area of the country and I was just thanking God that I could drink in his beautiful creation amidst the searing pin in my thighs.  But that is another blog for another day.

All in all I think I could get used to this cycling thing, it's really a blast and oh so challenging.  I also realized that in the past week I had exceeded the distances required for my first Tri in May.  I know I can put them together for a decent race.

So stoked for the training to come!