Midnight Bike Cruise

It was a long day and a very good day. Training during the summer means getting up early to get your workout in before the really hot part of the day starts. Coaching means getting up even a little earlier than that. My Saturdays start around 4am to organize coolers, sign-in sheets, direction cards, etc. I should probably pack everything the night before but I really enjoy doing nothing at all after I get off work Friday.

Yesterdays WoodlandsFit Half Marathon group looked very good. The mood was really upbeat and everyone looked like they had fun with the workout. Dr. Jeff Ross provided a clinic on foot care but in typical Dr. Ross fashion it became a clinic on taking care of your whole body. He is a master at providing in a straight forward no nonsense way very sound practices to give you the best chance to stay injury free.

As the clinic ended we had a visit from Jim Braden, back from his summer in Colorado. He brought pictures taken at the Leadville Heavy Half of himself with Jon Walk and of Waverly working an aid station with an old ultra friend of mine Wayne Webb. (small world).

After talking way too long I was off to complete my typical Saturday schedule with breakfast at Skeeters and then swing by Luke's to pick up another pair of shoes. Hmmm...is Big Foot running enough to start rotating shoes?

The rest of the day was setting up for the 9th annual Midnight Bike Cruise benefiting the Montgomery County Food Bank. Jon Walk and I had planned on doing this together.

First thing....I needed a headlight for my bike (required by the event) a spare inner tube and a few CO2 cartridges for my fancy tire inflator just in case I had a flat during the ride. I went to Bike Lane on FM1960 (Kim Hager's shop of choice) and they took very good care of me. It's a really nice shop with very knowledgeable staff.

I mounted the light, aired up the tires, and was set to go. I spent the rest of the day doing a whirlwind of weekend tasks.

I met Jon at the Alden Bridge shopping center shortly after 10PM. We both registered and then just relaxed and visited. A group of the WoodlandsFit coaches and a couple of the "rebels" were also doing the ride.

My biggest fear for the night was that I hadn't been on my bike for a few months and the last time I did go riding it wasn't good. I had a very difficult day with a short 15 mile ride with the TNT triathlon team. I had always felt like I was a good cyclist but I could barely keep up that day.

We lined up shortly before midnight, listened to some comments about road safety, sang the national anthem and were off into the night. We rode with the group from WoodlandsFit. Jon's bike is not suited for a ride like this at faster sustained speeds. He did an amazing job. We did a loop of the RTW 5K course in reverse direction to begin what would be a 23 mile loop. It was The Woodlands from a completely different perspective. It was dark, very few cars, hundreds of bikes with red blinking lights as far as you could see ahead. The bikes were of all shapes and sizes. From the serious to the silly. There were beach cruisers, what looked like home made tricycles, recumbants, and so on. We managed to stay ahead of the unusual bikes. I think most of those completed a shorter course.

The ride went very well for me. We didn't push the pace and enjoyed the event. I'm very glad we did the ride as it's the first event in a very long time that I've felt good from start to finish. I felt strong and my bike felt fast for the entire time. I've been turning a corner with my fitness over the last two months and I felt it.

Jon did great but really needs a bike that fits him better. He worked a lot harder than I did. We both had a good time and had a chance to visit which is always good. After finishing and visiting with the WoodlandsFit bunch and Jon I packed up and headed home. I hit the bed at 3:30AM which made it a 23-1/2 hour day from start to finish.

It was a long day.....and a very good day.