Riding with dinosaurs

Well, okay, I rode with just one dinosaur, and I'm not referring to Wes (especially since I am older than he is). Yesterday he and I turned our Saturday training ride into a bit of a more leisurely trek, riding north on the American Tobacco Trail into downtown Durham. There were many people out and about downtown yesterday, and cyclists were pedaling all around us. It was great to see.

We continued through downtown and onto the north section of the ATT. It's a fair amount of trail (vs. road) riding, so the pace naturally slows a bit. I've been struggling in recent weeks with keeping my heart rate zone where it needs to be for the 10-week base phase. Most days when riding on the road (and NC hills), it soars well above zone 2, where I need to be right now. Saturday on the trail, I struggled at times to keep it high enough. Considering all of my rides on the road, maybe it averages out to where I need to be! Too bad it doesn't work that way, though. Something tells me Louisville won't be considerate of averages.

We made our way to the end of the ATT in north Durham and then made our way back to downtown, passing my favorite landmark along the way (see below), courtesy (if I remember correctly) of the Museum of Life Sciences. I made Wes stop to take a picture of me near it. Of course, we've done this before, but not during Ironman training. :) After our photo opp, we rode back downtown and stopped to have lunch at our usual bike ride lunch spot, Mellow Mushroom. We booked it home after lunch to try to beat the rain that never actually came until today.

All in all, we had a fabulous ride. It was a different kind of training ride this weekend: slower, easier, and in some ways more enjoyable. Just me and my guy. And the dinosaur.



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Location:American Tobacco Trail