Bonk in Loudon

So I opted to start up training on Sunday. What a way to open the season. Without getting too far into detail, the holidays were bad for me. The ride was a sweet route with some folks from the ODBC team. My kind neighbor, SV, drove out and led the ride. We took the W&OD trail out into some Loudon County dirt roads. Ideal terrain for the tricross. It was supposed to be just over a 3 hour ride but my slack ass turned it into a 4 hour ride, a disaster of a bonk forced a nice extension of the ride for those remaining, thankfully the group split earlier on and I only slowed 3 others down in the end...

I didn't bring enough food, foolishly, as winter rides seem to be a lot more draining than one Nature Valley bar- did I start biking yesterday? When it hit I was just empty, legs barely turning, I did all I could to simply keep the group in sight- cramping all the way. I was muttering like an insane person, and in my head a single verse from that lovely Christmas song by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters “Mele-kalikimaka” (known well from its appearance in National Lampoon’s Christmas vacation when Chevy Chase pictures the hotty stripping on the diving board) was looping over and over... Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day ... someone shoot me!

At the close of the ride we hit the brewery. I could not stop shivering for what seemed like 15 minutes. Furthermore, my wife and I have taken the month off from drinking, which lead me to pound about 4 root beers... ugh.

I started feeling better Monday night. It's going to be a long pre-season.