On Tuesday night I played football again and noticed that on Wednesday I felt very similar to how I felt last week. I was exceptionally tired - almost to the point of feeling ill. Last week I actually felt like I had a cold; this week wan't quite so bad but I certainly felt completely drained. This was a shame because on Wednesday evening the weather was amazing and it would have been perfect for a bike ride. The thought, of getting on my bike, though, was horrible and I could just imagine what a miserable couple of hours it would be. So I didn't go out and instead just sat in.
Last night I felt a lot better. The weather looked ok (this turned out to be deceptive as a 10 minute downpour meant that I got a reet soaking) so I decided to make up for Wednesday by going out and doing a ride.
When I first left my house I felt slow and lacking in energy and thought it was going to be a struggle. This feeling lasted for about 25 minutes until I saw a rider ahead of me I couldn't help myself but decide that I HAD TO OVERTAKE HIM! This rider was in fact two riders, one faster one overtaking the other. I started pedalling harder to catch them and soon was riding at a pace that I thought I would pay for later in the ride. In that moment, though, I was intent on catching the riders in front of me. God knows why.
I finally caught the fast rider after around 4 miles (10 minutes) of chasing against the wind. By the time I caught him I thought I would be too tired to overtake him and it took real concentration and will power to go past him and say "hello mate!" cheerfully without showing any outward signs of being tired. Then I didn't think I was going to get away from him. He just sat in my slipstream being dragged along by me! I felt like crying (or at least having a sit down). Then, finally, I felt my turbo training pay off. Turbo training is good because you never stand up so you get used to putting a lot of effort in and pedalling big gears while sitting down. Last night, when the man was sitting behind me a changed up into a much harder gear while carrying on sitting down and not changing my pedalling speed - all because I didn't want the bloke to realise I was putting any effort in! The result was an extra 8 mph or so on the speed we were doing so I finally managed to drop him. If only he had been in front of me and seen the pain on my face the facade would have ended!
Worryingly, I still had the worst climb of the ride to come - one that I've been dropped on by a friendly rider saying "hello mate" cheerfully as he passed me last year. I was amazed when I went up it the fastest I've done it.
By the time I got home I felt dead. But it was a great ride considering that I felt rubbish before I left.
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