So, we came up with the idea of having the regular Friday play group at Chuck E Cheese's and bring a cake and make that the "party".
Marcos got to eat as much cake as he wanted, got to play and even open some presents.
Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!
On Saturday, I went for a "Chili Dawg" ride. Cartecay Bikes runs a series of winter training rides in Ellijay, GA. They are supposed to be long distance rides on a mix of paved, gravel and dirt roads to get you ready for next year's prime riding season. They all start and end at a fire station, where a hot bowl of chili awaits everyone after the long ride.
I've been wanting to try these out for a while in my continuous quest for improvement. I want to get to the point where I can go on the 50 mile or 6 hour rides or *gasp* even races without completely blowing out.
Well, I got all bundled up with my cold-weather riding gear and started out with the group. From the start, there was a lot of climbing. Feeling good and full of energy, I was riding about mid-pack, noticing how every time it got steep, I would move a little further back. I wasn't going all out trying to keep up, but I could have and should have been taking it easier, even if I was left behind. I mean, that's why I have a heart rate monitor, to keep myself in check. I saw what it was telling me, but I ignored it. The other problem was that, I had no idea of where we were going and if I was too far back, maybe they'd leave me, or at least that's what I thought.
So, all of this translates into me being in serious trouble once we got to about the 30 mile mark. By then, I had spent all that I had and still had about 15 miles to go. So, once again, you just have to keep going, so that's what I did. Slowly and painfully kept going. I started getting muscle cramps on both legs. They were not locking up completely on me, but I was worried about it. Towards the end, on the last few uphill miles, my friend Roger stayed with me and a couple of times even pushed me up some short hills! We talked trying to make time pass as we pedaled, he gave me advice from his experience and just kept company to make sure that if I couldn't continue, someone would know. He had mentioned trying to eat something to get a little boost and at first I didn't because I had a little earlier and didn't feel that it made a difference, but after a while, I was in such bad shape that I told him I needed to stop. I had eaten all I had in my pockets, so I got something from my Camelback stash ("Be prepared" is not just the Boy Scouts motto, it's mine as well). I also needed to stop pedaling for a minute or so and rest my legs, just a little bit. After this quick stop, we kept going and climbing and then we saw the rest of the group waiting for us at the top of the last climb, right next to a big sign that read "Steep Hill" or something ridiculously obvious like that. If I would have known we were so close to the top, I would have pushed to that point before stopping. Anyway, from that point on, it was a few miles downhill and then to the best chili I've had in my life. It could have been week old chili from Wendy's and it would have been the best one ever at that point!
The funny thing is that after I changed and sat for a few minutes, I felt fine. I felt that rush of having accomplished something, even if I barely qualify as accomplishing this. I mean, this was a "training ride' for most of these people, but it was more like survival to me. Granted most of them are people with many, many years of experience and way out of my league in fitness and miles and skills, but the way I see it, I am one step closer to them and one step closer to my goal.
In all of this, the main goal is to turn around my life from someone morbidly obese with lots of medical problems, into a respectable athlete. I am one step closer to that goal and the path I'm taking has the added benefit of meeting a lot of great people and seeing beautiful country. Now I need to learn how to carry and effectively use a camera to document this better.
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