"Oh, so LEFT on Friendship Road!"

Sunday = Bike Ride Day! Today's ride was a return to Chesapeake Beach. Recall we were just there a couple of months ago to do the same 48 mile loop. Familiar territory, right? Driving to the ride, Joanna sent me a text pointing out the obvious: "It is FREAKING cold outside!" As the Weather Channel pointed out to me as I had my pre-ride spinach omelet, the wind chill was 19 degrees. Bone chilling. At least the sun was out.

As we started the ride, I mentioned to Joanna that we'll miss days like this once we're riding our 120 miler in a few short months, and it seems like it's 1000 degrees outside. She agreed. And by mile 8 we could feel our fingers.

We soon got rather spread out over the roads. I was within eye sight of Kim and Matty Lynn when we approached the intersection of Fairhaven and Friendship Road at mile 13. I thought I saw them turn right onto Friendship Road, and followed without verifying the turn against my cue sheet. Friendship Road was a little brutal, heading into a headwind. The territory seemed familiar: a coffee shop, a traffic circle, sights I recall from the ride a couple months earlier. (As I would later discover, these sights should have been saved for LATER in the ride.)

I continued on, and saw that I should be approaching Walnut Road. I know Walnut Road well. I remember distinctly being on it back from Ironman training 2 years ago, as we rode our 100 miler. And I remember it well from our ride 2 months ago. The area leads into Rose Haven along the Chesapeake Bay and heads toward the Boardwalk. I was nowhere near Walnut Road.

OK. Where did I go wrong? Did I miss a turn? I began to head back and encountered a fellow cyclist. He and I surveyed my cue sheet. He pointed out that I needed to head back onto Friendship Road (OK, I WAS on Friendship Road), and turn right at the next turn and I'd be on my merry way.

Well, the next right was Old Solomons Island Road. That's not the way to go! I should be on Friendship Road! Where did I go wrong? Where was Boyd's Turn? So, I continued back and my concern grew as I saw no other cyclists approaching me, knowing full well there were others behind me. At least heading back along Friendship Road, I had a tailwind and was able to comparatively fly.

Eventually, I returned to the intersection of Fairhaven and Friendship Road. I pulled out the cue sheet and found the error of my ways. LEFT on Friendship, not right. Oh.

I went 5 miles out of my way, which does not seem to much in retrospect, but on a windy day, solo, it can feel much further. It meant I was about 20-30 minutes behind everyone else.

I gladly approached the Chesapeake Boardwalk and continued on, on the correct route this time. I hoped that I would be able to catch up with some people at the rest stop, about 7 miles ahead.

As I approached the rest stop, no one. Crud. My morale was beginning to sink. I was alone, tired from travel to Baton Rouge and Atlanta. My flight last night from Atlanta got into BWI 2 hours late, took another hour to retrieve my luggage, and took 1-1/2 hours to get home thanks to an accident on the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy. Add on top of that, the loss of an hour of sleep for daylight savings. (Ok, I'm fundamentally thrilled that it's now daylight savings time, but this morning, I was quite cranky about it.) Needless to say, I only had 6 hours of sleep pre-ride.

I continued along, when out of nowhere, a fellow Team Z'er approached me on his bike. Where did he come from? I didn't quite recognize him, given we were all bundled up in winter gear, but nevertheless, it was great to have a friendly face. He apparently missed the clock change and got to the ride an hour late. Given he started an hour later than me and had caught up, he was a much faster rider, and he soon dropped me. During my chance Team Z encounter, Ed had found us and briefly checked on our well-being, and left.

I was once again alone. My morale was rapidly sinking. Why am I training for Ironman again? Why am I putting myself through literally 1000s of miles of road biking in preps for this thing? I've already done an Ironman. I know how challenging it can be. In fact, I wound up in the emergency room the first go-around. That enough should steer me away from returning to Lake Placid. Yet, at the same time, I find that drive within myself. The challenge has some sort of allure to it that I cannot quite put into words.

Things could very much be worse. Sure, I was biking solo, on a chilly windy day. But the sun was out, I had my cell phone on me in case I got into trouble, and I was experiencing no flat tires or pain.

I saw Ed again. I knew I was the last one. Ed basically helped me weigh my options. I had 10 miles left to the start. He made sure I had enough food and fluids to sustain me. He'd check how far I was behind the rest of the crew and encouraged me to ride at least another 5 miles. Those 5 miles would put me at 48 miles, the ride distance for the day.

When I reached 48 miles, I once again saw Ed as promised. He told me that I was only a short distance behind Tim. Really? Hmmm.... I knew I'd kick myself if I bailed out now. I only had 5 more miles left to go. Sure, I'd wind up going a total of 53 miles, further than scheduled for the day. However, I am training for IRONMAN after all. Plus, there's something to be said about arriving back at the cars on bicycle versus in Ed's SAG vehicle. It's about FINISHING. I told Ed thanks, but I'd continue on.

About a minute later, I began to second guess my decision. My right knee was bothering me a bit. (Note to self: verify bike fit.) I was tired and a bit hungry too. Then I reminded myself why I turned down Ed's offer in the first place: there's something about FINISHING the ride.

I arrived back into the parking lot with a beaming smile on my face. I did it. And now I can enjoy recovery week before we ramp it all up again.