Survey says?

So much for being a day of rest. Sunday was a day of test(ing). The day to test my legs against the fire breathing dragon by a simulation of mental and physical pain through road biking at an extended distance. In the latter part of last week, I had to back off training slightly to allow for recovery. My knee was still recovering from the Charlotte 10 Miler and I felt it.  It hurt just enough to feel bad, but not enough to quit. Over the course of a few workouts though, that began to change, so I took Friday and Saturday off to let the body mend in preparation for a BIG ride on Sunday.

It's hard to find time to do rides like this due to the time commitment, so I was appreciative when I got the green light from house management. My goal was to get out somewhere between 50-80 miles. Given that I had a time window of 3-4 hours, it was more realistic that I would see something between 50-65 miles. 80 miles would take me well over 4 hours, maybe even 5, so I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

I had prepared everything for the ride on Saturday night. Water bottles, cold weather gear, co2, tubes, I was ready. Imagine my disappointment when I rolled down the first downhill and realized my food (gel and honey stingers) were left on the counter at home. Normally not a big deal, but on a ride of this length, I was worried (and annoyed at myself). Luckily I had added an extra half scoop of GU Brew electrolyte into my Camelbak bottles. After beating myself up for a few minutes, I finally settled into a groove.  My chosen route took me south into Union County through Marvin and Waxhaw. Since I usually ride the Waxhaw sections with a friend (who knows the route) I was a little worried I'd screw something up, but thanks to my Garmin, I had pre-loaded the course to keep me on track. Everything was going great until I got to about the half way point. When I was supposed to turn left there was a sign "NO THROUGH TRAFFIC, BRIDGE OUT" I love my GPS, but it's very hard to judge distances and detours in the middle of a ride. At home off the bike it would probably take me 1 second, but out in the field it was a 5, 10, 20 minute snafu I was unwilling to entertain, so I simply turned around to make it a out-and-back type ride. One the way back I latched on to some team roadies who pulled me a good clip for a couple miles. it was a welcomed relief at mile 40 or so, but I had to lift it up a notch to hang on to their wheels. It felt pretty good to be able to do so since the quads were feeling it at this point. So, here are the final ride stats:






Overall, I felt good. The knee still hurts, but not as bad as a week ago. I'm happy with the ride, so the survey says.....YES... or the Magic 8 Ball says "Signs Point to YES". If I still had a Ouija board I'd ask it too. 
It looks like I'm going to register for the Dragon's Tale this week.