Save Something for the Bike Ride

On Thursday I ended up going to the gym and doing a bunch more deadlifts—thankfully, a lot lighter than those on Wednesday. The workout on Thursday was five sets of: 7 deadlifts (40 kg), 12 kettlebell swings (16 kg), row 250 meters. My time for the five rounds was 14:15. For the rows, I used as long a pull as I could. I’ve learned to extend my legs all the way before pulling with my arms, but last Monday someone pointed out I was not leaning back far enough when I pulled with my arms at the end. I was starting to straighten up, so that my stomach met the rowing handle a little farther forward than necessary. So on Thursday I concentrated on leaning back and pulling a little longer. I was happy with my five row times because I speeded up on the second one and maintained that pace for the rest. The row times were 1:00, :58, :58, :58, :58. I was tired when it was over! I decided not to go to the gym on Friday because we had a 40-mile bike ride coming up Saturday and I wanted to enjoy it. It was the Tulip Pedal, a rural ride up in Skagit County where huge fields of tulips are grown and blooming at this time of year. The landscape is flat, lush, green or brightly colored (with tulips) farm fields, with the Cascade foothills in the background and the Olympics visible across the Sound when the clouds parted. I was glad I rested on Friday. We rode with a couple who are in their 20s and have lightweight road bikes, and we maintained a faster pace than Tom and I would have done on our own. For the first half of the ride we consistently went 18, 19, or 20 mph, even after it started raining. We stopped at a bakery in the tiny town of Edison and ate pastries until the rain stopped, then continued the final 20 miles in a headwind that slowed us down. We ended up with about two hours 40 minutes pedaling time and an average speed of 14 mph—slower than we expected because of the headwind.