On the road again … perhaps a bit too soon

Saturday I decided to test the lungs, the legs, the mucous producing machinery by doing a brief jaunt into the Los Altos Hills area. The legs were OK, not great, but the lungs were straining to find room for some air in between the resevoirs of mucous that had filled over the past two weeks. Even though I was riding tempo I kept the speed moderated, in part a concession to the lungs, in part to make sure I had control as I fired off countless ’snot rockets’. By the time I got home the throat was agitated, leading to a few good coughing fits through the rest of the day. Hmmm, perhaps it was a bit too soon to climb back into the saddle.

Did I learn my lesson and throttle back? You must be kidding! Sunday I got up ready to put myself out there in Early Bird #3, having missed #1 and #2 due to the combination of weather and the now infamous cold. But I needed to warmup first, right? And what better way to warmup for a few circuits of the industrial park than to ride 19 miles to the event? Little did I know what was in store.

The first surprise was rain; about 2 miles from home I entered the precipitation zone, light but steady, enough to get me and the bike thoroughly covered in that black, oily road run-off. At about mile 4 I seriously considered turning around and going back for the car, but was I smart enough to take the wise choice? Noooooo! Surprise #2 was a drive train problem, finally traced to debris that had gotten thrown up into the rear cassette. As the problem started I considered turning back and getting the car, but still I was not smart enough to follow my intuition. Surprise #3 was flooding on the approach to the Dumbarton bridge and the entrance to the bike lane on the bridge. I had to ford through water 2-3″ deep to get started on my way to cross the bridge, and by this time it was too late to consider turning back for the car. If that was not enough, right after crossing the bridge I realized my rear tire was going flat. When it rains, it pours, as they say.

By some miracle I did make it to the Early Bird with a few minutes to spare. And to add to the fun the first 7 miles of the trip back was straight into a stiff headwind. Mucous production seemed to have increased, and keeping that in check while riding in the pack was loads of fun; I am sure some of the other riders were amused at the long strands that kept dripping off the nose. And all that fun and games tweaked the throat even more, leading to more and longer coughing spells through the afternoon and evening. I am so ready to get back to my normal, healthy self. But moderate? What’s that?