36.2 miles
2:07:07 ride time
17.09 MPH
1537 miles YTD
This was a ride with 2 stories to it, really. The first is about the ride itself and the second is about the events around the ride.
First, the ride. We were up in McBain, Michigan. This is a small farming town in central northern Michigan. I had never heard of it prior to meeting my wife, but just about everyone else in the world seems to know where it is. Geographically, it has a really good combination of hills and flats. Anyone who has driven into town along Stoney Corners Road between M-115 and M-66 will know what I mean by hills. I took off from Gord's Lodge and noticed there really wasn't much, if any wind. I decided to do the hills first so I did an out and back on Stoney Corner's Road (this is about 18 miles total). I never felt like I was moving slow, but I didn't feel that fast. When I got back to McBain, I decided to continue east instead of doing a repeat of Stoney Corners Road (this decision was based on time more than anything else).
Since I was now on the flat, I decided to push it and see if I could maintain a 18 mph plus pace. Trying to maintain a higher than average pace is an odd thing. It is hard. It burns. You want to quit and slow down. And it feels really good. You feel like you are really doing something that will make you faster and stronger, much like doing hill repeats will make you stronger, despite the pain and suffering. I finished and saw that I had average a little more than 17 mph despite doing all the hills on Stoney Corners Road. This, of course, is a nice feeling. A wonderful sense of accomplishment. I had that post-ride glow you can only get from a really good ride.
The other good thing about the ride was I wore my new Specialized RBX bib shorts for the first time. They seemed pretty comfortable. I'm not yet sure if they are that much better than regular shorts but we'll see. I plan on doing an official review later on, probably after I ride a century with them.
Then there is what happened around the ride. This story is less pleasant and basically makes me sound like a jerk. Since I actually was a jerk, I shall have to share. We were in McBain for a family reunion/80th birthday/60th wedding anniversary for my father-in-law's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Vander Heide. As you can imagine, big family gatherings with people coming from all corners of the country can't go off without a few problems. They can also involve a lot of hard work from many different people (including my wife and myself). Without going into unnecessary detail, I didn't get to ride when I wanted to or when I expected to. Both of my kids were sick and my wife had a lot to do in preparation for the events of the day. Was I kind and helpful, willing to do anything and everything necessary? No. Did I sacrifice my ride for the benefit of others? No. I was a big surly, grumpy mess who just wanted to ride his bike. I took off for more than 2 hours while my wife dealt with everything. Basically, I was a big asshole.
What really gets me is I knew it all along. It wasn't like I got back from my ride and realized, "Oh my goodness, look at all that has happened! What was I thinking?!?!". No, I knew the whole time what was going on and I just kept on riding. Why? I am no better than anyone else. I can be mean and selfish and nasty and rude and arrogant and condescending. I know this will all change in the end (and I will not be the one actually effecting the change) but I wish it would come sooner. My basic goals in life are to be a good husband and father and on this day I failed.
No comments:
Post a Comment