35-mile bike ride on Old San Antonio Road

The 35-mile bike ride this weekend was really cool. I learnt so much from my fellow tri-buddy, Ellen, who lead the bike trip.

Arvind & I were going to loop around South Mopac 4 times... but fortunately, Ellen asked if anyone wanted to take the route through Old San Antonio Road to Kyle with her. It was (a) an out-and-back ride, (b) a change of scenery from South Mopac, and (c) low-traffic route, so I readily accepted her offer.

We arrived early at 7am at Aikins High School ("it's at the end of the universe," said Ellen. She was right.) and set off. Ellen was really amazing. She had printed out the map & directions and put it into ziplock bags and had clips to attach them to the bike. She was super prepared - with bandaid, advil, cash, water, electrolyte strips.. I was impressed. She was also an excellent lead cyclist, giving all the appropriate hand signals ("look out for debris"), warnings ("car back"), directions ("in about 100m we're going to turn right at the stop sign") and kept a watchful distance while cycling. I learnt so much by watching her. I felt so secure with her leading in front and Arv looking out for me from the back. I couldn't have made it without them. I counted my blessings.

The terrain was fine, mostly gentle hills. Nothing surprising or jarring. I am somewhat used to the traffic now, so I didn't freak out for the most part. We took 2 potty stops at the gas station, and refueled too. The distance was challenging for me, though doable. We were riding at a super easy pace (Ellen said, "it's about time on the saddle, not the speed, so don't worry") I started struggling at the 33 mile or so, and really had to push myself. Unlike Ellen, I did not stretch my shoulders and back, and my hands started hurting. In the last mile, I could barely shift gears because my fingers felt weak. My new bike shorts also took some getting used to, so in all, the last 1-2miles was rough. Apart from that though, I was fine. More importantly, I did it. I felt pretty numb and spaced out once it was over, but recovered fairly quickly.

The next day I even woke up (and I nearly decided to sleep in..) at 6.30am to go for my long run. What's coming over me?? I'm actually sticking to my routine! :)