First Airport Ride: 50 Mile Option

08:15:37 AM: Got up at 6AM to get all the race crap off of the bike and re-load it for a "normal" roadie ride. Meeting Marc and Dana at Panera on Briarcliff at 9AM to head over to the Carter Center and ride from there to the start of the Airport Ride. Looks like some windy condtions. My legs are pretty sore from yesterday's run and last week's race. My chances of being dropped today are virtually guaranteed but I want to try to maintain more base this winter than I did last year so I'm willing to be beat down by roadies all winter. Terp and Aves couldn't get up the driveway because of the layer of wet leaves so I quickly raked them a trail. They're on their way out to Villa Rica for a run with Rusty... about 11 miles in prep for the Atlanta Half Marathon in a week and a half.

01:35:37 PM: Back from my first Airport Ride. Met Dana and Marc at Panera. Had a bagel and coffee. Then we met Matt at the Carter Center and rode over to the start of the Airport Ride. Made it just as they were starting which left me with no time to relieve myself so I hurt until the first "nature break" at about mile 11. After that things felt good. Good-sized group of about 80-ish riders. Men and women. Couple of guys on tri bikes, myself included. Some people over-dressed. Some under. I was surprisingly just right. I tucked-in near the back and worked through the sore legs which actually felt pretty good. Andreas was there, looking strong and calling me a p***y for riding the 50 mile option instead of the 70 miler. I thanked him for his support :) After the split I moved to the front for a little while and took a few turns leading the pack. The wind was strong and put a heavy tax onto the front person so I only took a few turns and then dropped back. Dana's Blackberry took a concrete dive to the gutter so we recovered it and rode the final few miles back to the start where Marc and Matt were waiting. I didn't eat enough on the ride... the cold tricks me into thinking I'm not burning calories while, in fact, my body needs more calories to both stay warm and ride the bike. After the formal Airport Ride, for the short ride back to the Carter Center, I was bonking... eyes crossed and hands shaking. I was getting so out of it I didn't have the wits about me to avoid things in the road. But it was a short-lived condition once we made it back to the cars and I had some Endurox. Good ride!

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