Da Plains! Da Plains!

May 13th

Distance:  42 miles 

Goal:  Enjoy the scenery

Ironman Effect Items:  bike computer broken, bike pump broken (so I rode with really low tire pressure. Ugh), no salt tabs, no baggie for my cue sheet (which got splashed by my aero bottle water =S).

When you hear "The Plains", you think of flat sweeping prairies fading off into the horizon. But The Plains 42 miler is hardly flat. Actually, the first 20 miles or so are not bad at all....but the last half is full of rollers. Nothing that rises to the level of Savageman, but it's hilly enough to be annoying.

I had opted not to do Kinetic this year (no regrets there), so I wound up riding by myself on this particular weekend. And without the usual time pressures of hardcore training, I gave myself permission to notice the scenery and yes, even to stop and take pictures when the mood hit me.

Rolled up bales of hay dotting the countryside

I've done this ride a few times, but never noticed the small airport runway tucked away in the middle of nowhere. Who knew?

The runway is just above the fence where the white markings are.

 

This ride is a study in fences. Did you  notice that each photo I've posted thus far has a fence? From the standard wooden pasture fence, to the stone/wood combo, to the simple stone fence below:

Wonder how long it took to lay all these stones

There are enough fence variations in Northern Virginia to fill a nice coffee table book!

The Plains

I felt pretty good until the last 8 miles. My legs were getting tired, I was annoyed by the hills, and it was high noon hot. So I was thrilled to finally make it back to The Plains and my lonely little car parked all by itself in a lonely little parking lot. 

Overall it was a good workout with some nice scenery to keep things interesting. But it was also a reminder that I can't neglect the bike or I'll pay for it come Musselman. Kind of hard to believe I just did an Ironman a few months ago and now 42 miles feels like a lot. Sigh.