Fall Fun Detour

I recently posted my Fall Fun schedule, a series of activities to keep me occupied during this lengthy recovery phase. The first activity happened as scheduled and actually ended up being much bigger than anticipated. But the second activity fell off the plan due to a lack of friend wanting to wallow in the mud and a sudden dip in temperatures that made wallowing in the mud sound about as fun as a root canal. Instead I rode with a new friend and it was the first ride in a very long time that was done purely for the joy of biking. It didn't matter how far we went, how long it took, what my HR was, how many carbs I consumed (cinnamon chip muffin anyone?). We just rode, and we even started at 9am instead of the 7am I'm so used to.

I had a little detour at the beginning after riding over a nail and flatting instantly. In all my years cycling this has never happened to me. I felt a little bump as I rode over it and about three seconds later I felt the disturbing feeling of my rim scraping the ground. I was on the George Washington Bridge, thankfully almost all the way across and about a half mile from a bike shop. Have you walked a half mile in cleats pushing a bike with a totally flat tire? It wasn't fun, but could have been significantly worse. We lost about an hour total and were back on the road, enjoying 50 miles on a beautiful fall day.

I'm still not fully recovered but feel I've come a long way. If the rain holds off this week I'll be attempting a Prospect Peloton ride to see where my fitness stands. If the weather lets me down I'll reluctantly get on the trainer and do the intervals. At least there won't be any nails.

I prepped my Monday detox food tonight so I can kick things off in the morning. I'm pretty excited and already feel a little better knowing I'm doing this. I got a little half-bottle of wine to toast my last toxic night and serve as a cook's helper for all the prepping. I'm aiming for Monday - Wednesday for sure, and if I feel good I'll go through Thursday. After that I'll stick to the general rules but will allow myself a little more slack, including another glass of wine. It gives me something to look forward to.