A Shot In The Dark

“What purpose practice/Perfection impossible/To achieve your best.”

Our local cycling clearing house, Velobob.com, posted that there was to be a pre-ride/practice for the upcoming Vlees Huis RR.  I decided that the ride would be a good focal point for the days milage and I left home about 6:30, while it was still dark.  Surprisingly, it was pretty warm when I left home, no wind and some puffy clouds.

The Vlees Huis is a relatively brutal race set on 30+ mile semi-loop in the foot hills east of town. What makes the race so difficult is the 3500 feet of elevation gain every lap. Riders do between 1 and 4 laps depending on category. I was planning on doing the Masters 55+ race and that would be a single lap race, so today I only planned on doing a single lap practice.

The posting said that the ride would start at a new mini-mart west of the race start/finish line. Most folks drove from town and parked at the mini-mart, but a few of us road from town. I had over 20 miles by the time I got to the meeting location.

The group took off at a fairly sedate pace that slowly increased until the base of the first climb. I was able to stay with the group up to that point, but on the climb I was quickly dropped. Thereafter, I kept a steady, if not painfully slow pace over the rest of the course.

While on my way back home my sweet wife agreed to go out for a ride when I got home. After a short rest, I headed out to Lake Ming with my bride to enjoy the day. After I returned home from the second ride, I downloaded my rides and wrote a Haiku for each. See above and below.

“Rest is overrated/The day is too good to quit/I’ll rest when I’m dust.”

Tags: Climbing, Cycling, Road Race, Vlees Huis