Route

Main, Bandemere Park through Barton Hills to warm up; then back up Main to Sunset; up Sunset twice; then Newport to Huron River Dr., Joy, Zeeb, back on Huron River Dr, Bandemere, Main.

Stats

* 23.31 miles

* 1' 41"

* 13.7 avg mph

Interesting Happenings

We'd already kayaked for about 4 hours earlier in the day. It was a gorgeous day, a real boon after Saturday's overcast offering. There were an unbelievable number of cyclists on the road today - many more than I'd ever seen. People must have been making up for the previous day.

Around Tubbs Rd, on Huron River Drive, as I approached the only big hill on this road, I noticed a huge smear on the road. I'd ridden past it before, probably, without noticing. I went back to look at it more closely. It stretched across both lanes, and suggested a particularly gory event.

I'd heard that a few days after my accident, two motorcyclists had died on a stretch of road not far from my accident. On cyclist had taken a curve too quickly and strayed into the other lane, taking out another cyclist coming in the other direction. It had just seemed so ironic and unlikely. But it had happened.

I also remembered that not long ago I'd been driving in the opposite direction and had noticed a state trooper conversing with an older couple right in this area. They were looking and pointing at the stretch of road which contained the massive stain. I was pretty sure, now, that this was the scene of the accident. I couldn't leave the site for awhile - I was in awe of its terribleness.

Impressions of Ride

Ian had ridden up and down Sunset St. three times in a row. I'd been viewing Sunset as an ultimate goal in my potential hill-climbing career. I didn't figure I'd try it any time soon. It's the steepest hill I'm aware of in our town. I'd figured there was no way I'd make it up that hill at this time in my conditioning.

But now that he'd done it three times in a row, I had to try it. I told him I was going to try it, but that I didn't expect to make it up the hill. So today I warmed up in Barton park for 5 or 6 miles before attempting Sunset.

I started up Sunset in the saddle, but it wasn't long before I had to continue the climb out of the saddle. It was a shorter hill than I'd remembered, but every bit as steep. I was able to resist the urge to stop, and make it to the top for the first time. I cooled down pretty quickly - my breathing returned to normal within a minute or two. I thought to myself that this was more of a cardio-vascular exercise than a strength exercise. I didn't think that the second time would be a problem. In fact, I began to experience visions that maybe I could exceed Ian's three times.

The second time up was harder; part of the way up, I really wanted to stop, but forced myself to continue. Nearing the top, I thought that if I did this one more time I would probably get sick. I realized that this was definitely a strength test as well as a cardio-vascular test. But I felt fine knowing that I'd be able to do it twice and not three times. There was plenty of time in the future to work up to more times.

I'd thought that the kayaking earlier in the day might make it harder for me to ride today, but while I'd been in the bike shop, I'd worked on my shoulder muscles pretty hard with self-massage. I'm still not sure whether I might have done better on Sunset without having kayaked, because biking uphill out of the saddle uses one's shoulder and arm muscles. But that's a test for some other time.

The rest of the ride was strong - I didn't feel any worse off for having kayaked for four hours or for having biked up Sunset twice.