rainy day ride T3 style!

Well, this was supposed to be our last long ride before CDA...100-120 miles depending on the route you chose. We were doing what can best be described as the "Austin Bike Route Sampler":
- Kiker to the Kyle Valero
- right on 150 to RR12
- right on RR 12 to Fitzhugh
- right on Fitzhugh to 290
- take 290 to the roads that wind you back to Southwest Parkway
- left on SWP to 71
- right on 71 to 620
- right on 620 until you hit Anderson Mill and then the maze through the neighborhood and eventually hitting 360
- south on 360 to MoPac to SWP
- and finishing it up with William Cannon + Escarpment + 1 loop of south MoPac if we wanted
Turns out that what we wanted ended up having very little impact on what we actually did today!
Amy and I were trucking along at the back...the two caboose cars for the T3 train today. (Couldn't ask for a better caboose buddy! As Amy said, we think alike AND we both have great internal GPS's...translation, you could get lost in the woods with either of us and be okay! Besides, Amy inspires me to work harder and pedal faster by the example that she sets on her bike...usually a little ways ahead of me.) Anyway, we were averaging just over 16mph (this is fast for me, people! I usually average about 15 and a year or so ago was easily more around 14 so I was pretty darn happy about the 16!). We'd covered just over 50 miles when the rain started...and kept going...and got harder...and turned cold. Thankfully we were just about a mile from the gas station at Fitzhugh and 290 and as soon as we pulled in we saw Jane, Val, Heidi, Alisa, and Karen all shivering outside. They had already made calls to be picked up; I was amazed at how quickly the troops were mobilized. Amy called a friend (thank you, Spencer!), too, and within about 20 minutes we were all headed back to Kiker. Other T3ers were stranded all over the route so we hopped in our cars and headed out to "rescue" them. I say "rescue" because it turns out that a bunch of them had made their shelter at Fion - a wine pub on Bee Cave! They needed us for rides at the end of our time there but first they needed pub buddies! The energy was high - it was like we'd just been told there was a snow day and we didn't have to go to school!
Phone calls and text messages checking in on everyone filled the next hour or so...what a team. "Just checking to make sure you are safe" were very sweet words today. Thanks to everyone who called me - y'all are the best!
A group of us had a fun afternoon of beer and tacos (thanks, Chris Quirk, for the tacos!) after we realized that no other outdoor riding was going to happen today. I sort of have a sense that Mother Nature saved me from myself...poor Amy was trying to but I can be pretty stubborn sometimes. Anyway, I have a feeling that with the frog that has decided to live in my throat and steal my voice and make me feel a little less than wonderful, I probably had no sense riding 100+ miles today. But I was going to do it. I had made a deal with myself that if I felt at least 70% I was going to go for it. And then the rain came. And then our coaches told us not to worry about the mileage. I have already done 3 rides of 100 miles or more so I'm confident that I can go the distance in CDA.
And what I gained today was probably way more valuable...good reminders about safety on the bike (ummm...it comes first...before any training schedules!), great reminders about how wonderful our team is and how great the individuals are, and a reminder that sometimes just pulling a big switch-a-roo and changing up your plans and hanging out without an immediate care in the world is a REALLY good thing. In a funny way, this afternoon was exactly what I needed after a looooooong two weeks of AP exams and other stress at school. (And after all the fun I packaged up those bad boys...yeah! Off they go on Monday!)
Resting up the throat some more tonight...cleaning the house a little...and getting some sleep for our 17 mile run tomorrow. Actually looking forward to it!