Mohican Lap and a Half

After last weekend's stomach limited ride at Mohican, I headed down for another attempt at a long one this weekend.  It was the first trip wit the bike on the roof of the 3 instead of hanging off the rear bumper.  The most comforting detail was the sun at my bike on the way down.  I could easily see the bike was still on the roof and had not flown off.

A reassuring shadow.

I set out on a lap and felt okay through Mt. Doom.  Like last week I was cramping around mile 19.  This was not part of the plan but seems to be a reality of the race to come unless I can figure something out.  I do think I spent too much time pedaling seated in the beginning of today's ride.  Too much food at the second trail head also caught up with me, but I worked through that without much issue.  The cramps were the problem.

Back to the car after a lap I spent some time stretching and eating.  I refilled my hydration pack and worked up some motivation to head back out.  As I started a second lap, this time with the camera, I was thinking about some unique wildflowers I noticed on the way down to the covered bridge.  I decided I would at least ride that far and take a picture of them for KT.

I found the flowers and got the picture.

At the covered bridge I was really feeling junky.  Instead of Mt. Doom I took the road, which requires a pretty good effort even though on pavement instead of singletrack.  I jumped back on the trail to connect over to the second trail head.  Legs were dead, cramps were difficult to ignore, and this ride was turning into a slog.  I decided there could not possibly be a positive training effect in this condition and took the road back to the car.

This is how we roll now.

I was beat.  And hungry.  I stopped at the gas station and bought chocolate milk, a bag of cheese, and a steak.  Not a ready to eat steak but a seasoned steak to take home and grill.  It was delicious.

Recovery food, gonna need it.