pleased precariously

In case you weren’t following our tweets yesterday, we both completed the ride in reasonably good time.  Nat’s motionbased report is here, and mine is here.

A few things:

1. This was only the second or third ride with my new seat.  Normally this would be a bad idea, but there was no way I could have done the ride with the old seat.  I love the look of the Selle, but my ass (along with my naughty bits and, strangely enough, my feet) love the Toupe.
2. This was a check-up ride for my RAMROD preparation.  I basically wanted to see if I had any hope of riding the mileage and climbing (154 miles, 10,000 feet climbing) coming up in 10 days.  I think given how close the numbers are, I’ll be okay.  Also, this ride was in some ways harder than RAMROD, I think.  All my training in SF has been on long, steep, sustained climbs (which seems to match fairly well with the RAMROD profile), and the climb to the clouds course was just roller after roller after roller.  Difficult to pace yourself when your speed is constantly yo-yoing, and your heart rate is as well.
3. What the motionbased info doesn’t show is the fact that I rode through a torrential downpour about 10 miles from Cambridge.  This is probably why my elevation dropped to below sea-level, my cadence dropped to zero (I *was* pedaling), among other little problems (the gps unit was constantly flipping between auto-pause and auto-resume, while I was going 21mph).  The downpour left me completely soaked, and while the headwind was at times a little chilly, the cold was much prefered to the heat of the day, and it gave me my 4th or 5th wind - enough energy to close out the day strong instead of limping across the finish line.  It also helped to wash a lot of the salt out of my shorts, so I wasn’t too embarassed walking into the hotel.
4. Cookies at rest stops are amazing.  Screw the fruit, bring on the oreos.  Also, I hate gatorade.