Yes, eating pumpkin pies and feeling good about it. Sunday, Rob Lombardi, Birgit Reeves and I, along with a few other riders, we rode the Pumpkin Ride Century organized by SIBA, the Staten Island Bicycle Association. The ride has been organized in NJ right off exit 8 on the Turnpike. I must say that it was extremely well organized with very rich food-stops every 25 miles and directions clearly painted right before each intersection. The conditions of the roads were very good and the traffic light, maybe for the weather since it was quite cloudy.
It was a great opportunity to reach out our local community of riders, maybe not racers like us, but who are equally in love with cycling. This kind of rides are also an enjoyable way to churn a lot of miles at endurance pace, just what we need to keep off the extra weight that inevitably we will be gaining during the winter months
Of course Sunday we approached the ride as a training session, like one of those long rides that we have in the training camp in Tucson. The stronger riders lead most of the ride while the rest tried to stay covered as much as they could to save energies and keep the overall effort at sub-threshold level. It was certainly a great experience for Birgit, who has recently started our training program to begin racing next season.
At the second food stop we met Arland, our Finkraft Triathlon Coach, who was training for his next competition in Florida. He mentioned to me that the persistent wind that kept challenging us in the open fields it was very similar to what he had experienced at an Ironman in Hawaii: for a moment I imagined the beautiful islands, beaches and sun but it did not last much since I went back to bite my pumpkin pie thinking that our summer is definitely over.
Ciao
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