9 May 2011 Fast America Day 16

Abilene, KS to Topeka, KS

Mileage:                     110.06 miles

Riding Time:              7:19     Riding Speed 15.0 mph

Total Time:                 8:40

Climbing:                    3670 ft.

Flats:                           0

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84648996

http://app.strava.com/rides/539052

Like I said yesterday, every day is different. Today, we rode through the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas, practice for the real hills of Missouri the next two days. I started out with a good group, but after the sixth or seventh small hill, I began to drift off the back. We started out to the South, directly into a headwind, but this was a good tactical move, because we came back North at the end of the ride and the South wind was three times as strong then.

I did fine for the first half of the ride, but by noon, the temperature was pushing 100 F (record highs everywhere around here) and my foot hurt like hell. There’s basically two problems: the structure of my foot after surgery and my heel hurts from the way the shoe grabs it. This second issue started in my warm up Solvang Double Century. It really hurt after yesterday’s ride and still hurt this morning.

Flash: I sat in the Jacuzzi here for twenty minutes after dinner, and then took a short swim. My heel feels fine right now. This will be a good way to start tomorrow.

Bottom Line: I just took it easy the second half of the ride. What’s cvalled Tempo Riding or Long Slow Distance (LSD) pace. About once an hour, I found a place to lie down in the grass and take off my shoe. My foot and I got to the Holiday Inn (nicest hotel/motel so far) a little after 3:00. At one point, as I was laboring up a 5% grade with a 20 mph headwind, a woman driving a nursing home van pulled along side of me and called out “Everything all right, sir? The wind is pretty strong today!”

The terrain has changed remarkably. The road is windy, there are trees and farm houses, and we rode on very pretty country roads. Tomorrow we enter Missouri, where the roads all have beautiful names like “H” and “T” and “HH”. And we cross the halfway point. The motto for tomorrow: HYDRATE.