2013 Bloomin' Arts Ride

What about a recovery?  My legs were kind of screaming at me by now.  Two weeks of solid racing and no real recovery rides...When I saw the post on Facebook, I knew I had to do it.  I would support a great shop in Leroy's Bikeworks and hopefully get to see some familiar local faces and meet some new ones.  When I got there, Leroy's tent was up and he and Alex were dressed in warm gear as it was cold.  This would be a three layer day.  The temperatures would not get out of the 50s.  As people started to line up, my legs were just telling me no, but I wanted to see if I could get them loosened up and work in a good pace.  Hopefully Allan and William and Jay would be able to hang so I could take a few turns at the back. 
One of the great things about this event is that they give back to the community.  They had a big raffle and gave away bikes for kids.  This was awesome to see.  I love to see a kids face brighten as they are handed a bike to ride.  After the giveaway, Trish (the organizer) jumped in the car and escorted us out of town.  I was fast on her tail, pulling 27 to 28.  I looked back to see the others falling back.  This would be a ride alone, I guess.

 

Leaving Town

Trish barely had time to jump out of the car and snap the pic above.  All things seemed to go well.  My legs kind of loosened up a bit and I was rocking.  I even beat the Patrol car to the stop light
out of Homeland only to have him pull right up beside me and into traffic to let me through...cool!
I proceeded to zip through the first stops and fly through about the first 30 miles at a nice 25 average when my legs decided to rebel.  They had had enough and they weren't playing anymore.  But, I was 30 miles into a 63 mile ride...the decision was made by me to take it easy and let my half good leg do most of the work.  It was OK, but it took a lot of will power not to stop and walk a ways.  Thinking back on it now, it was probably a good thing I didn't as they would have stiffened right up.
At about the 45 mile mark, as I followed the arrows, a weird thing happened.  I came along side some racers in full garb and looked up to see a finish line at the top of a hill and many, many people waving and cheering...why was I here?  This was weird.  Did I take a wrong turn?  I know I followed the arrow.  So, up I went to the strange looks of a recumbent passing on a hill and weird looks from spectators wondering what I was doing in the race.  I crossed the finish line first in my category...LOL...and kept going.
I proceeded to ride cautiously wondering if I had to turn around, but came across another arrow so all was good.  I just kept riding and enjoying the weather.  There was a slight mist of rain along the ride and winds started picking up a bit...legs don't like the wind they said...
As I followed the arrows back into town, I came into a dead end and took a right turn only to end up in the middle of a crowded street full of people and lots of venders.  I had to stop and get off and walk my bike as there were just too many people to safely menuever.  I pulled into the finish with a 2:45 riding time and a very sore set of legs.  No more riding for a bit until they heal properly.  I have been given a set of instructions on stretching and hope to do some light spinning this weekend.  We'll see how it goes.  I don't want to risk any further trauma or time off the bike as I have two big events coming:  The Polk County Time Trial Series I did last year and the Miami 6hr coming in mid April.  Fun, fun, fun:-)
Thank you, again, to the organizers of this local event.  It was fun and the roads are great!  See you next year!!!