I’d love to say that, after the Sequoia Century just two days ago, I’m stronger than ever. But that wasn’t the case this morning, at least not up Kings! I would have loved to have been able to ride up with Kevin, Kevin, George & Karen this morning, but they were off the front so fast (or rather, I was off the back so quickly) that there was no time to even wish them well. This was not just a “high gravity” day; no, this was one of those days where you wonder if you’re seeing the future and it really, really sucks. I was lucky to even get under 35 up Kings. And I managed to lose track of the most-important thing to remember at times like that- you WILL feel better, soon. No matter how badly you feel going up Kings, you always finish the ride feeling a whole lot better.
And, thankfully, that was the case again today. I began to recover gradually on Skyline, and by the time we got to West Old LaHonda, it’s not like I was feeling lively, but I wasn’t dead either, and I could carry on conversations with George, Kevin and Kevin (Karen had peeled off earlier, to get to work).
You just gotta believe. There’s not yet been a time I felt worse at the end than the beginning. You might have to pay for feeling better by feeling really awful early on, but it’s worth it, every single time.