Worst day of the year

Yesterday was the worst ride of the year for me, bar none. I rode the Tad Beaton Memorial ride, which commemorates the last ride of a local police officer/cyclist, who was felled by heart failure during that ride. Around 200 riders gathered yesterday morning to complete the route that he started two years ago.

It seemed like a worthy event, and I was on my own as friends have other things going on, so I thought, why not? It's a route I like, with a lot of climbing. While the official route is 50 miles in length, a few of my club friends were planning a 120-130 mile ride in preparation for the BBC Double, coming up early in September.

Unfortunately the day started off badly when I forgot my water bottles. No too big of a deal ordinarily, because I could get 25 miles in, and buy a couple of gatorades at the BP in Vandiver. Then reload them on the way back through and finish the ride. But, the day was exceptionally humid. I don't normally sweat heavily, but I had it literally running down my face all morning. The air was heavy, and overcast, and worst of all, I just had no legs.

Oh, I did okay climbing Cahaba Beach Road up to Sicard Hollow, but each climb after that was tougher than the last, until the climb up the steep side of Double Oak Mountain left me completely drained.

Eventually I made it back to the end, but I really didn't have any fun yesterday. Which is distressing because I am asking myself if I've really lost that much fitness, or if I just had a bad day.

I'm hoping it was just a bad day. I'll find out on Tuesday.