I started riding early in the morning from my house, about 10 km east of Stockholm. Plan was to meet my friend Hans Chen in Stockholm and then head right through town out through some islands west of Stockholm to my girlfriends place, eat, and then go back. About 75 km in total.
Very few complications arouse on the way there. Just the odd toilet break and a sore ass. It started raining a bit about halfway there, and also some wind. But nothing really annoying. My ass got more and more sore as we arrived at the half-finnish just after a bit of gravel road. We ate, rested for a bit and then back on the road. After a few km the soarness dissappeared. I don't know if it was due to numbnes or simple willpower, but I didn't complain. Nothing extraordinary happened on the way back. Arrived at home after 8 hours (6 hrs 30 mins riding time). I never really felt tired, but on the other hand, we didn't go that fast.
So, in short: A truly beautiful ride. A bit painful in the beginning but a real relief that I didn't get tired.
12/06/2007
184
Today we were going to ride in rougher terrain. We didn't have as much time as yesterday, so we decided to make the trip quite hilly. There are several really good excercise tracks near my house, so thats where we were goin.
We thought 4 laps around the 10 km track would be a good idea. It started with a few massive hills, then some really nice forrest tracks. But halfway through the first lap, the track turned to a muddy horsetrack. Three words: not uni friendly.
So, new plan. A track around a small lake seamed more suited for our needs. The track was only 4,7 km long, so we knew that we had to do quite a few laps. Every lap got us about 70 meters of gained elevation and after every lap I'd count what our rating was.
I felt the same way as yesterday here. Sore ass that got better in time, but no geting tired, no lactic acid. But all the hills really got to my left knee. I've felt it before doing 10 km runs, and it passes after some rest. But this only got worse. I decided to ride full out anyway, and after 5 laps we were done (counting the ride to our universety where we had afternoon lectures). I stopped at home to shower and eat, then headed off to uni. The knee was really painful now, also, I wasn't wearing my bike pants now. Not too pelasant. But I got there eventually, stumbeled the last bit.
Now, a bit over a week later I can say that I learned two important lessons:
One: If going at a reasonable speed, I can go on for "ever".
Two: If it is very hilly, my knee object and I can't walk right for about a week. Nice to know that for next time.