Manda's Century: Welcoming the Plateau

It's pretty common in sports that you do good and then, suddenly, you are not excelling in the same way. Ahh, the plateau. I have known it to destroy people. I know I have felt less than great when I hit them.

Well, plateau or not, my week of riding can best be summed up by struggles. However, there is a silver lining to these times that feel like failure - you only have to go through it once. Once you go through the plateau, you never have to go through it again. The best thing you can do is fight through it.

However, I did get some good advice.

Friend: The worth of your soul is not dependent on the amount of miles you travel on your bike.

Rain
Rain caused me to shift up my routine. I ended up doing the stationary bike for my Wednesday ride - which was going to be my Tuesday ride, but, I was at work late. The first time I was on the bike, I did about 9 miles and it was ok. Other than my butt hurt. The second time, urg, I was bored. You sweat a lot and it's difficult to feel the same burn in your legs because everything is so perfect with the machine. You also have to worry less about balance.

La la la - bored!

I also found out I smell. I need a new deodorant if I am going to be working out in the gym.

Back-to-Back
I did something I never did before, which was ride two days in a row. Ok, the first day was in the gym, but, it was still energy expended and I wasn't sure how my body would respond. I should be doing 10 miles for my short ride but I got a little scared and cut it to 6.

What side? Outside!

To add some spice to my life, I did a road clean up for my company's Adopt-a-Highway thing. That was a two mile walk, bending down and picking up stuff. I decided, I hate people who smoke cigarettes a little more because of all the cigg butts I had to pick-up. Urg. Don't throw your cigs out of your car, seriously, gross.

Long Ride
I wanted to hit my long ride at 30-35 because I did 30 last week. The previously mentioned advice sort of put that in check - I don't need to be upping my rides by 10 miles every week. I can live in the 30 range for a little while and be good.

TIRED!

 Let me also mention, I did not to get my Morning Glory muffin - the bakery was all out. I had to settle for blueberry and it tasted like bad omen. I mean, it was delicious, I just wanted MY muffin. Once I was on the trail and zipping along - I changed up my route a bit so I was pretty tired by the time I was on my normal route and then - ran right into this MS Walk. A GIANT walk.

I reduced my speed and tried to squeak by on the right side of the trail while the walker continued 5-7 deep. I said, frequently:

• Look up.
• In front of you.
• Look out.
• Passing.
• AH!

I can't get mad at the walkers - they were not paying attention to anyone else on the path because they felt safe in their herd and everyone was going in the same direction so there was no reason to be alert. Also, they were walking for charity. I did hear one walker say, "They should get these bikers off the path. Shut it down for us."

Then I got a little attitude. I was being super respectful - riding in the grass, calling out, stopping when I would be dividing a family - and this person says how this public, open, huge trail should be closed down so they can walk without being inconvenience by bikers, runners and non-MS walkers? Really?

Ahh well, if moving to the right is too much to handle on a public path, then maybe this line of entertainment isn't for you.

I warned as many bikers as I could what was in store for them. A lot of the clubs were out, as always. I ended up running into the MS walkers twice - once going and once coming back. Going back, I rode on the tail of two other bikers so we could stick together and cause less issues for the walkers. 

And now, I am tired. I need to take some medication, take a nap and I think I will be ok. 

Ahh, return of the naps.


Manda's Century
You can follow my biking adventures by checking out my Manda's Century Ride page. It lists (in convenient bullet form) the lessons I have learned and has links to each of my biking related posts.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.