Saturday, February 21, 2009

Antelope Island Ride

My training plan for the day says:
B: 120 minutes long bike again this week.
We were very blessed with beautiful weather and a baby-sitter so Pete and I could go for the long bike ride together!  Pete was talking about going on a ride with some friends from work, so I decided to tag along. I also got one of their wives, Tiffany, to come too. I was so excited because I'd never really been on a group ride before, and it was fun to have another girl to ride with. 

We met up with them at the entrance to Antelope Island State Park. As soon as we got out of the car, we realized that it was much colder and windier than it had been at home. I was so relieved when Tiffany offered me her extra jacket and ear covers (she was smart and bundled up good), and Pete let me wear the toe covers and warmer gloves (what a gentleman). I would have frozen without them!  

We got started, and I immediately regretted not bringing my camera. It was so beautiful! It was all blue and white: water, snow, sky, and mountains. There were even white birds out on the lake, we thought maybe some kind of crane. It was very nice.

We rode out the "the ranch", and took a little break. The guys were still hanging out, but Tiffany and I were getting cold so we started back. I was just telling Tiffany about how I had been hoping to see buffalo while we were out there because I had heard about them, when we rode past some Antelope. That was pretty cool, and I was content, but a little sad about no camera again. 

The guys showed up after not too long, riding in their pace line. Then we got in the line with them. A pace line is what you see them doing in the Tour d'France where they ride real close and draft off of each other. It's something we're usually not allowed to do in triathlons so I'd never done it before. It was really fun. I was amazed how much easier it was when  you were drafting as opposed to when you were the one in front pulling. Before we got into it, Pete kindly informed me that it is not good edict to ride in the areo bars when you're riding with the pack. Good to know. I was careful not to do that, but I found myself wanting to be in the areo bars a couple times. Also good to know.

Then we saw some dark shapes in the distance, and I was excited to get to see the buffalo after all! I mean, it wasn't that exciting, they just stood there a ways away, and we rode past, but it was cool.

The last few miles were pretty hard. Tiffany and Paul just booked it across the causeway! I couldn't quite keep up, and my toes were numb by the end. We did 37 miles. I don't know how long it took us exactly since I still didn't have my computer on my bike, but probably about 3 hours. It was a really fun ride, though. I'm glad we got to go. It was much more fun than riding on the trainer, and much more challenging. I'm sure I'll do that ride again, and I'll try to bring my camera this time.

No comments:

Post a Comment