Once in a while I have trouble getting to sleep Monday nights, because I know I have to get to sleep a bit earlier than normal since I’ve got to get up earlier than normal to ride. And knowing that I have to get to sleep keeps me from getting to sleep. Hate that. Last night was one of those nights, although I didn’t feel all that bad when I got up in the morning, despite maybe 4-5 hours of sleep.

Didn’t feel so bad until I started riding anyway. Even then I didn’t feel all that bad, but Kevin was riding away from me pretty quickly after leaving the house, and my heart rate wouldn’t climb the way it should. That didn’t change after meeting up with the group (Karl, Karen & George) and starting up Kings. I was pretty solidly off the back by the time we got to the park entrance, and it would have been a very lonely ride up the hill if Karl hadn’t dropped back to keep me company.

Meanwhile, up at the front, Kevin and George were laying it down, hard, with Kevin getting up the hill first and taking all contested sprints. Perhaps this is where we point out that Kevin is 22 and George is 59 maybe? And further that George had already been on the infamous “morning” ride before meeting up with us!

I did feel better later in the ride, but never enough to keep up with Kevin. There could have been more to it than just my lack of sleep though; it was darned cold, 36 degrees, up on Skyline! What happened to the warmer weather of just a week or two ago? Maybe Thursday; the current weather report shows a high of 80. Of course, that won’t be when I’m riding. Maybe Sunday I can get back out there without leg warmers and base layers. I hope!