I woke up this morning in a sad sad state. The last two weeks I've slept very little and I'm paying for it dearly. I slapped the alarm clock and rolled out of bed feeling like hell. At least I didn't have the C-Span replay of Alito's confirmation hearings to keep me up last night, but somehow Jess and I managed to make it a late one. She has the day off, so no worries for her, but I had committed to riding in and I was really hurting.

I did mangage to get out the door at a reasonable hour. I put on the full array of clothes as it was pretty chilly despite yesterday's warmth. I did leave off the booties though because I hate wearing them so much. I strapped on my HRM as well and hit the road. The ride was super uneventful. There are so few people out this time of year anyways and I obviously wasn't in the mood to lay down anything special. Plus it's only my second day "Back in the Saddle Again," so I took it easy.

I've noticed that my HR sits in several ranges. I'm 170-180 bpm anytime I have an uphill of any sort--slight long stretches on the W&OD or anytime I try to turn 22+ mph for an extended stretch. I spend most of my time in the 160-170 bpm range though. That's the relaxed pace but keeping things respectable. I can go much lower if I hit a downhill and coast. So rolling down the hill after climbing over Hwy. 66, I went from a high of 185 bpm to a low of 130 bpm or so in a matter of about half a minute. I was surprised how quick it dropped. It's certainly a neat stat to look at while I ride. All I need are power and cadence and I'll be all set!

There was one incident that raised the HR just a bit. I was crossing the real small road next to the baseball field that's very nearly my last crossing before work. Well, I did as nearly every cyclist on the W&OD does and slowed down for the stop sign, made eye contact with the car already stopped there, and then continued on when I was sure that the driver was letting me go. Unfortunately, the guy in the car behind the nice guy didn't like that too much and I got a, "Hey buddy, you've got a stop sign you know!" I resisted giving him the bird since he's actually right and moved on. I was really too tired to get upset anyway. Get a clue though. I'd like to have seen him yell that at one of the 40+ dudes that ride out there in the morning.

The ride home today was a great indication of where my fitness level stands at the moment. I was able to leave work early and get home totally in the light. As I was crossing the first road from work I picked up a Rockville Harley Team rider. I was content to relax and ride behind him. The wind was strong and I didn't feel the need to push it. But after a while, he indicated I should go around. He told me he was tired and didn't have it. Well, I didn't feel like riding with him in tow, so I took off at a decent pace. I assumed he was staying back, but after several miles, he showed up behind me.

When we reached the Powerhouse section before Vienna, he really went hard. He blew past me and left me struggling to hold his wheel. I stuck on him as tightly as I could, while my HR reached 190. At about mile 13, we picked up two more riders. One was, I beleive, a Rockville Harley teammate. We rode briefly in a paceline until I couldn't quite hang. Once I dropped out of the draft, I really had to hang tough. I kept the gap at about 20 yards until they all turned off at the Vienna Depot.

My bike was loaded down with the battery for my light and my backpack was full of all the clothes I'd had in my office and my shoes. So that's my excuse for getting dropped. But I think I'm just lagging in fitness too. This was only my second day back and I really wasn't looking to ride hard. It was intriguing to see my heart rate hit 201 and really stay at 200 for a mile or two. My legs are tired. I need to make tomorrow and long but easy spin.

Dist / Time / Avg / Max / Avg HR / Max HR / Odo
23.1 / 1:25:58 / 16.1 / 27.6 / 159 / 187 / 70
21.6 / 1:14:15 / 17.4 / 29.4 / 173 / 201 / 91