Messed Up

Today’s bike ride just seemed messed up.

It started with the usual Saturday morning prep routine, and then just as I’m about to get on to the bike I start up the Wahoo Fitness iPhone app to record the ride and deliver data to the RFLKT, but it won’t start. I end up deleting the app, re-installing and paring all the sensors etc. I leave about 45-60 minutes to bike from home to the start of the FOG ride to allow for a leisurely warmup. after all this I’m down to 45 minutes, still lots of time. I start riding and notice I’ve missed a setting and all my ride info is coming up in imperial measurements, oh well, no time to stop and fix that now.

About 4 miles from home I notice that I don’t have my seat bag on the bike. This is kind of important as it has tubes, tools etc. for road side repairs, should they be required, and  key to get back into the house. A u-turn and I hustle back home to pick it up. This extra distance is not factored in the ride time and now I’ll need to hammer all the way to try and meet the 9am start time. Because of the app re-install I don’t have a time display, just how long I’ve been riding so I really don’t know how close to 9am it is.  Just as I’m coming up Henderson I spot a clock and it’s 9:05, not good. By the time I’m at the Legion the group is gone and it’s probably about 9:10. Thankfully, there is a strong tail wind and now I’m riding hard to close a 10 minute gap.

I pick up the group shortly after turning on to River Road and casually slip on the back like nothing happened. The ride progresses with the usual sprint to the Selkirk town line and several of the group turn off here and head back while the rest forge on to the “Big Bridge” (Breezy Point Road & Hwy 4). Up the Big Bridge is the usual sprint to the top and I’m 3rd as we’re approaching the top and then two riders immediately in front of me go down and I narrowly avoid piling on with an instinctive swerve around the two downed riders. They are slow to get up and we’re blocking a lane on the bridge for 10-15 minutes. Good to have a doctor on the rides. Both riders are OK, sort of. Some pretty deep cuts and scrapes, helmets cracked in multiple places and seat rails broken. They call for a pickup and the rest of us keep on going. I’m a little shaken, it happened so fast, and I could have been a part of it so easily.

The group proceeds at a slower that normal pace up St. Peter’s Road & Henderson Hwy to Hwy 44. I think everybody is processing what just happened and being a little extra careful, not to mention a building headwind. More riders pull off at Hwy 44 to head back. I think about it. I”m not feeling too good about this ride and wondering if I should just pack it in. But, at the last, I turn and head towards Birds Hill Park with 5 other riders. we suffer up Hwy 206 into a brisk wind, reminiscent of last weeks ride. Did I mention it’s hot? One guys bike computer is reporting 30°C and the humidity it through the roof. For the first time ever I’d drunk all of my 2 water bottles and I’m out a long way from Birds Hill Park.

In the Park we stop for water and a faily long break before heading out. A few more sprints at all the usual points and we’re back at the Legion. The heat is really starting to get to me now as I struggle back home. At one point I catch my self shivering, not a good sign, and that’s only happened one other time when I was riding the Maah Daah Hey trail in +100°F. Oh yeah, another messed up thing was that I forgot to engage the extra battery on the iPhone, so the ride recording and my bike computer display go dead at 123.7km. Trying to ride pace single file with no speed/power info, just going on feel was a little challenging.

Not one of the finer rides, but we got ‘er done.