I have come to realize that although I love the idea of riding the rolling hills of Sonoma County,I am nowhere near ready to conquer Chalk Hill Road.
Saturday afternoon, I enjoyed a smallish ride out to Oakmont via Channel Road with my friend Amy and felt great. Sunday afternoon, however, found me gasping for air over Laguna Road and Westside Road all the way to Healdsburg...and back to Santa Rosa. Sunday's ride was slightly less than fun for me. With temperatures between 40 and 45 degrees, the 45-50 mile ride through redwoods and vineyards- and then against a slight wind for about 10 miles- exhausted and humbled me to my core. Every hill I faced left me feeling as though my lungs were full of cotton balls and fiberglass, resulting in near-panic and all-encompassing feelings of defeat. I really thought I was unable to breathe at a couple of points and nearly turned around to head home. I wheezed throughout the rest of the ride and I am sure the freezing cold air didn't help much. My friends Miles and Leanne suggested that I may have some mild asthma and though I entertained the thought in order to hold onto my last threads of pride, I know that I am just out of shape. I could also blame it on the two weeks Swine Flu I had recently recovered from (to the right is the photo I took of myself in the emergency room last October) and the burning sensations that lingered in my lungs for weeks after, but again... I just need more practice and warm weather to improve and condition my cardio.
I am trying to pace myself and avoiding peering at the map of The Century, which is intimidating to say the least. My new plan is to ride 20-25 miles about 3-4x per week and 40+ miles 1-2x per week until this shitty weather improves. I have also made a commitment to constantly remind myself that I am a beginner and am not training for the fricken Tour de France. I am not even training for a race, I am just attempting to push myself a little and have fun while doing it. We'll see how long the "fun" lasts!
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