capabilities

it was the tour de cure.
a national fundraising bicycle ride
for the american diabetes association.
i registered in february
and rode yesterday.
on team lanesplitter.

the numbers:
i rode 50 miles.
on a fixed gear of 70.9 gear inches.
meaning i spun 44,682 revolutions
in sometime over 3 hours.
...i slept 13 hours last night.

it was a beautiful ride through napa.
the morning was foggy and overcast and cold,
and i was freezing in a short-sleeve jersey,
but i rode hard enough from the start
that i stopped feeling anything
until the sun came out later.

the trees and fields in the valley were pretty
when i had the chance to look at them.
(my focus was on pace and safe riding.)
the slight hills crested over the warm green
and under the bright, clear, blue sky.
one early pass had lush, arching tree cover
from both sides of the road.
that was a beautiful minute.

by the last third of the 50 the muscles in my elbows
were sorer than they had been in the morning.
(i slept in a hammock the night before,
and woke with strange tensions in my limbs.)
my knees, calves, and hamstrings began
taking turns telling me how they felt.
my back and butt were fine though;
an affirming feeling.

on the last mile i pulled a sprint out of me
and it was about all i had left.
it was a happy completion.