Cover Bridge Ride Training ride.

God is great, beer is good and people are crazy! Those are the lyrics to a song that was playing this morning when I was preparing for my ride. I had to smile listening to the song as I got my bike ready to hit the road. Little did I know how much relevancy those lyrics would hold towards my 50 mile ride. Today's ride was the first ride of any real distance that I would be attempting since dealing with severe back pain for the about the last week and a half.

I woke up around 6:15 and spent some time with the family before bidding them farewell and hitting the road. I decided I would ride the covered bridge route today which would cover 50 miles. Living in the Santiam Canyon provides ample opportunities to ride your bike on country roads that are realtively free of traffic with drivers willing to share the road. The challenges of riding in the canyon are the incessant head winds and the rolling hills. But I try to keep that in perspective as it should make me a stronger rider training out here.

The temperature was around 65 degrees with the winds coming in from the north. As I cycled out for the first 15 miles or so I found myself averaging 22mph and I got caught up in my cadence. When this happens I have a tendency to miss the beautiful scenery so I have to constantly remind myself to take in the country side. This is where I thank God for giving me the ability to experience his creations on two wheels. Today's ride in the country was no exception. The scenery is incredible as I roll along.

Today I reminded myself to keep hydrating and eating even though I wasn't hungry or thirsty. Regulating my nurtition is going to be essential to finshing Ironman Arizona so I try to train in that manner with each ride. Today was successful as I downed 2 16oz bottles of fluids and ate Cliffbars and Accelerade gel.

At mile 27, I nearly lost my wedding ring as it slid out from under my riding gloves to the end of my finger. I reacted quicly to this and clenched my fist preventing the ring from slipping off into oblivion. I can only imagine the scorn of my wife had that happended. I pulled over, slipped off my ring and put it into my spare tire pouch so I wouldn't have to worry about it any longer and could concentrate on the 3 mile hill climb in front of me.

The hill wasn't bad and the descent was fun even though the headwinds slowed my speed. As I rode on and looked around me, I can tell the summer is quickly coming to a close and fall is beckoning. All the farmers have started their fall harvest and the remaining crops in the field are trying their hardest to take advantage of the waining hours of sunlight. Autumn is my favorite season and knowing that it will be here quickly signals the reality that Ironman Arizona is 13 weeks out from this weekend. Lots more training to do before the big day.

There are 3 covered bridges along this route and they are something to be experienced. The last bridge of the 3 is at mile 40 and pictured above. This is where the encouter with Mr. Redneck asshole occurred. I am heading north on Richardson Gap road and Mr. Jackass is headed south on the opposite side of the road. I guess someone must have pissed in his Wheaties this morning as he wasn't having a good day. He decided to stick his fat ass head out of the window of his horse trailer hauling Ford F150 and berate me for riding on his road. I quickly exchanged pleasentries with him and kept riding. I was just laughing at this belligerent jackass and wished him a day of being thrown of his horse for acting like a horses ass.

Remember the song lyrics? God is great, beer is good and people are crazy? Well this is where the crazy part of the song has significance for today's ride. The remaining 10 miles of the ride were a mix of hills with one really brutal climb which I knock out thanks to the encouragement of Mr. Jackass.

I pulled into the garage after the ride and heard this song on the radio. The lyrics were God is great, beer is good and people are crazy. I smiled and agreed as I headed into the house ready to eat and enjoy a beer.