On Sunday, we got up early (albeit not TOO early) and all had various rides in our plans. I was to ride very easy in heart rate zones 1-2 mostly which can be difficult on hills like there are in Galena.
We set off around 7:30am for a three hour ride... I was the slowest of the group of people that weekend and so they just waited for me at each major turn in our ride. After about 45 minutes, my chain dropped, so I had to take care of that (this time, thankfully, I unclipped quickly and didn't bite it!) but unfortunately, it was on a steep hill up. I couldn't get my momentum going very well and at the same time I noticed that my breaks were dragging on my front wheel. I had to stop again and then just was too nervous since the rain had started. I walked most of the way with my bike in tow to the top of the hill and by that time the rain was really coming down and there was thunder and lightening. I'm not willing to die for the sport of triathlon, so I said that when we got to the loop near the rental house, I was going to go inside.
We all decided to head to the house and try and wait out the storm. Michael had left with the car to head to Galena proper for breakfast and coffee already. I texted him to come back and that I was going to clean up and we'd leave early. I wasn't willing to wait for a storm that might not end and I was crabby already.
We hit the road to his mother's house and got there a few hours later. Initially, I was going to go home and ride on my trainer, but by the time we got to Lombard, it was a beautiful day and his family suggested that I ride on the Prairie Path. I had never done that before, so I went out for a beautiful (and mostly flat) ride from Lombard to West Chicago.
I took the Great Western Trail back to Lombard. Bad decision: it was really boring and not covered by any trees at all and pretty "desolate" compared to the action on the Prairie Path. It seemed like I was just riding along an old train track or along where all the electrical power lines in that area run! It was nice that at every major street intersection, there was a map, so I knew I was going the right way back.
I rode for about 20 miles in that Lombard area, so I got my entire 3 hour + ride in on Sunday. When we got home, I still had an hour swim in my plan, but by that time, I had to unpack the car, do some laundry and then go to a condo board meeting, so the swim was skipped! Unfortunately, I also had to miss plans with two different girlfriends since we were in the car for about 4 hours on Sunday.
We set off around 7:30am for a three hour ride... I was the slowest of the group of people that weekend and so they just waited for me at each major turn in our ride. After about 45 minutes, my chain dropped, so I had to take care of that (this time, thankfully, I unclipped quickly and didn't bite it!) but unfortunately, it was on a steep hill up. I couldn't get my momentum going very well and at the same time I noticed that my breaks were dragging on my front wheel. I had to stop again and then just was too nervous since the rain had started. I walked most of the way with my bike in tow to the top of the hill and by that time the rain was really coming down and there was thunder and lightening. I'm not willing to die for the sport of triathlon, so I said that when we got to the loop near the rental house, I was going to go inside.
We all decided to head to the house and try and wait out the storm. Michael had left with the car to head to Galena proper for breakfast and coffee already. I texted him to come back and that I was going to clean up and we'd leave early. I wasn't willing to wait for a storm that might not end and I was crabby already.
We hit the road to his mother's house and got there a few hours later. Initially, I was going to go home and ride on my trainer, but by the time we got to Lombard, it was a beautiful day and his family suggested that I ride on the Prairie Path. I had never done that before, so I went out for a beautiful (and mostly flat) ride from Lombard to West Chicago.
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| Prairie Path in Wheaton, IL |
I took the Great Western Trail back to Lombard. Bad decision: it was really boring and not covered by any trees at all and pretty "desolate" compared to the action on the Prairie Path. It seemed like I was just riding along an old train track or along where all the electrical power lines in that area run! It was nice that at every major street intersection, there was a map, so I knew I was going the right way back.
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| Great Western Trail Map |
I rode for about 20 miles in that Lombard area, so I got my entire 3 hour + ride in on Sunday. When we got home, I still had an hour swim in my plan, but by that time, I had to unpack the car, do some laundry and then go to a condo board meeting, so the swim was skipped! Unfortunately, I also had to miss plans with two different girlfriends since we were in the car for about 4 hours on Sunday.
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| A portion of the desolate trail |
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