Doing silly things on bikes

Until Sunday, the sum total of my mileage over the past 10 days was 35. That's a pair of commutes to work, if you're keeping track.

On Sunday, I rode 78.5. Yeah, I've never been one for moderation. But with the first race a month away and the sting of embarrassment and disappointment lingering from last year, the time is now to bump things up a notch.

And by bump things up a notch, I mean, "Chase Mark and Spence on a pair of super-hilly loops through the Loess Hills." By and large, I did what I needed to do. I climbed OK, I was able to put out fairly consistent power when required to do so. No problem, really.

Well, there was one problem: The last hour or so. Let's rewind a bit, though.

Since I ran out of on-bike nutrition last fall, I haven't really made an effort to go get more. Pop Tarts and granola bars fueled winter rides, since they were best eaten while standing still ... and indoors.

But for Sunday's ride, I knew nobody was going to wait by the side of the road while I peeled away the foil Pop Tarts wrapper, so I grabbed a few Honey Stinger gels (banana and strawberry, by the way — both outstanding) before I left on Saturday.

At the start of the second loop, I had two gels and a half-packet of GU Chomps left — pretty much perfect for the two hours or so left in the ride, plus the traverse back to the shop from the pedestrian bridge. As I sat up to take one of the gels, Spence soft-pedaled toward the back of the now four-man group. He mentioned that we should have stopped at the gas station in Crescent to grab something real quick.

"I have an extra one," I heard myself say. Right after that, I realized it wasn't really an extra one. I'd need that later. And then I pulled one out, handed it over and attacked the hills with gusto, one more time.

Fast forward to the last few miles on the Council Bluffs side: gel gone, Chomps gone, completely blasted. And while I could have — should have? — stopped somewhere downtown for a quick bite, I rode on toward Midtown with Mark. After we split off, with nobody to keep pace with, I slowed way down. I'm pretty sure walking would have been faster.

But I rolled up to the store with 4:45 and change on the computer. And then I devoured anything that looked tasty.

And despite having spent barely any time on the bike in the previous week, I was pretty happy with the ride. Still some work to do, sure, but a pretty good feeling for early March.