Planes, Bikes and Automobiles

What a week!

On Tuesday night I rode in our club’s weekly pain fest. This week I tried to ride a bit more conservatively and limit my time at the front of the group. As a result I was able to hang with the leaders until the finish in Delaware (sans the talented young Andy and Farmer John who dropped the hammer a few miles from home and finished about 30 seconds ahead of us). Our ride finished up sometime around 8:30 and I quickly changed clothes at Marco’s pad and then drove home. After getting home that night around 9:30 I quickly threw some things in my travel bag to be ready for my trip the Dallas the following day. Then it was off to bed.

The next morning I was up at 4:30 to get ready for my 7:00 flight to Dallas. Flying Delta, I had a connecting flight in Cincinnati and arrived in Dallas around 11:00. I picked up my rental car and headed for San Antonio to visit a potential new customer. My Dallas flight was already confirmed though Travelocity when my manager asked me if I would have time to visit a potential new customer in San Antonio. “Sure” I replied – anything for you boss! The only way to make this meeting would be to drive from Dallas to San Antonio. My Google directions listed the drive time at 4 hours 50 minutes and the company I was to visit locked their doors at 4:30. Everything would need to go like clockwork to make my meeting on time.

I hopped on the highway and headed south for sunny San Antonio – passing through Waco, Temple, Austin (no, I didn’t see Lance) and other towns along the way. The only thing to listen to on the radio was country & western (yes – they have “both kinds” of music in Texas), Latino & evangelical. There was also quite a bit of news about that Texas polygamist church – boy did I miss my XM! There were lots of billboards for BBQ, snake farms and something called the “Inner Space” park which showed pictures of dinosaurs and wooly mammoths. If only I had more time for sightseeing. I won’t say how fast I drove but I knocked over 30 minutes off the estimated travel time and arrived at my destination around 3:30. We had a good meeting and I was back on the road shortly after 5:00.

Feeling good about my successful meeting I hopped back on the highway and headed north toward Dallas. About 30 miles north of Waco the clouds rolled in and lightning began to brighten the sky – I’m talking about those bright, thick lightning bolts that cause the hair on your arms to stand up. As darkness fell the winds kicked up and hail began to come down. When I saw the hail I was a bit worried and increased my speed to try and beat the storm. About 30 minutes south of Dallas I lost my race against Mother Nature and the skies opened up. The rain fell so hard that flash flooding occurred on the highway and visibility was probably less than 50 feet. After a few minutes of blindly hydroplaning along the road I pulled off and waited for the rain to die down. Listening to the radio I learned there were tornado sightings in parts of Dallas and a few parts of the city were without electricity. After about 15 minutes the rain was still coming down pretty hard but I got back on the road and was anxious to reach my hotel.

Driving around Dallas at night in a heavy rainstorm it took longer than expected to find my hotel. I finally was in my room a little after 11:00 pm Dallas time. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement. My bike ride from the night before, the plane flight and the last 9 hours of driving through Texas had all caught up with me and I was asleep in no time.

I awoke Thursday morning at 6:00 and still felt pretty tired. I showered, got dressed and grabbed a quick bite for breakfast. There were 2 customers to visit this day and both meetings went well. I finished up around 4:00 and once back in my room I fell asleep watching TV. I awoke around 6:00 and called home to check in. By 9:00 I was asleep for the night.

Friday morning I was up around 6:30 and felt pretty well rested. I got ready and headed to the airport and hoped to book an earlier flight home. No earlier flights were available so here I am in the airport writing this blog as I wait for my 11:30 flight. It is non-stop and should get me home around 2:30.

Checking the Saturday weather for Columbus it looks like rain and temperatures in the mid 60’s. After getting limited sleep and very little time on the bike this week I would expect my race performance on Saturday to be average at best if the weather is nice. But if it rains tomorrow I fear a repeat of last week’s death march in Zanesfield.

A week like this past one causes me to question my decision to try and fit a season of racing into my hectic schedule. Right now the carrot being dangled in front of me is to fit in 2 more races before my upcoming cycling vacation to North Carolina in a few weeks. This annual trip is always lots of fun and I’m hopeful that I’ll return refreshed and ready to finish up my season.