Windermere Ride

Yesterday morning, my Dad and I drove down to Orlando to join the Windermere Roadies Sunday group ride. I have done this ride a half-dozen times and absolutely LOVE it! It's soooo hard, and so intense, and sooo hilly...I know I'm getting a great training session even if I do get dropped every time the pace increases up a huge climb!
But, yesterday, I was determined to stay with the lead group...and I was a bit rested because I had missed a handful of workouts during the week to spend time with my mother in the hospital --- I'll do an update on her later in this post. So we started off just like every other Sunday morning, riding over to Clermont. I was feeling good and still very determined. As we neared the first big climb where the pack shatters into a million pieces, the ride leaders made a slight course change because of a road closure on the normal route. I took it in stride and prepared myself by moving up to the front so that I could get a chance up the Grassy Lake Hill.
BANG...we hit that hill hard. But this time, I found myself at the top of the climb still among the leaders! I was stoked and that feeling of accomplishment only increased my determination to hang on.
Unfortunately, making it to the top of the climb is only half the battle. Immediately following the crest of the hill comes some of the sketchiest road conditions (imagine Paris-Roubaix on steroids) that all the Central Florida roadies approach without fear. Potholes, sand, road patches, etc...they just keep on hammering through the lot of it!
The thing is...I just can't do it. I just can't risk my life and limbs out there on a training ride just to stay with the pack. My new motto for these rides is: "I'd rather be average and able to compete, than be dead trying to be the best." So I lost the front pact during this section but managed to bridge myself back up with the help of some other riders that seemed to be just as determined as I was!
Next came the Buckhill section and I rode it with EASE! Yes, I just wrote 'ease' and 'hill' in the same sentence...that might be a first for me:). As we continued to ride the normal route, a message was relayed through the group that, today, we were going to climb the front-side of Sugarloaf Mountain! When I heard the news, I took it in stride and mentally prepared myself for the hardest climb in Florida.
(Now, when I say that I "mentally prepared myself" I am referring to the effort that it took not to scream or moan in disbelief and beg all the guys to please, please, please just go up the back-side like normal!)
It hurt like H-E-double-hockey-sticks but I pedalled up that hill and managed to get to the top ahead of two people (no need to mention that the 30 other people from the group were already halfway down the other side:). Again, I found myself with another group of determined individuals and we gutted it out in a small rotating pace-line to catch back up. I was just on Cloud-9 at this point because of how strong and how hard I was riding...also on Cloud-9 because I couldn't feel too much of my body anymore! Anyways, the whole ride was just a great experience. It all took place on another Beautiful Florida day in the middle of March. The sun was shinning...I was dripping with sweat...what more could a girl ask for?!?!
After the ride I had to have Dad drive us home because I was completely out of energy. We didn't have to worry about my Mom because Dustin was home for the weekend and in charge of 'Mom-Care' for the morning. By the way, she is doing AMAZING...you wouldn't believe it if I told you that she is walking around, climbing stairs, going to lunch with friends, relaxing in her lounge-chair outside, visiting the McLarty Farm animals, etc. Thanks to the drugs, she is in minimal pain and only taking the pills when she needs to...her goal is to be off them by the time she goes in for a check-up two weeks after the surgery!
And I also mentioned that Dustin was home...from Saturday after swim practice to after dinner last night. It was great to see our newest NCAA qualifier (he made his first 'A' cut last weekend at Auburn so he is heading up to Seattle, WA in two weeks to compete in his first National Championships with the rest of the Gators)! Too bad the meet is as far away as possible (and still within the continental USA) or else I might be a little more motivated to go...but I was happy to watch him compete in Alabama last month and I have a plane ticket to the Olympic Trials this summer.
As for myself, it's the beginning of another week, my training log has been posted, the weather is beautiful, and I'm heading out for a horse-back-ride!