Solo ride to get miles in as a way of preparing for the
Shanti ride next week. The route was
simple: head out Derekh Ben-Tsvi until it turns into Highway 44, ride until it
ends, and then determine what to do next.
I started early, riding for about 40 min when it was dark enough that I
needed a light. Good cadence and felt
good in the early stages. Out to Ramla,
where I missed a turn for the 44 and rode into the town for a little bit before
realizing my mistake. Backtracked and
got on course again. The 44 is a pretty
good road for riding in general. After
it crosses Highway 40, it starts to tilt up in a rolling manner, with the uphill
stretches apparently more numerous than the downhills. I rode past the turnoff to Tel Gezer and then
beyond the crossing with Highway 3, after which there are a couple of more
significant climbs to negotiate. The
highway dead-ends into Highway 38, so when I got there I decided to head south
toward Bet Shemesh and beyond. Again, it
was rolling hills, but here the uphills were gradual and generally longer,
including a couple of steeper sections, usually short. I rode out to about mile 41 before turning
around an retracing my route. On the way
back, I caught a couple of sprinkles of rain, nothing hard enough to make
rooster-tails on the road but enough to give me pause about how slick they
were. I was still pushing a pretty
decent pace but starting to slow down, both from the extended effort as well as
the lack of taking in calories. Back on
Highway 44, I really started to notice that I was slowing down and didn’t have
a lot of push in my legs, and it gradually got worse. My only saving grace was that the ride back
was generally downhill, so I could coast or ride on the flats okay. By the time I got to the crossing with
Highway 4, I was toasted, and so my progress from there back home was slow,
although not painful. My leg muscles
held out okay, a couple of minor twinges but no real cramping, just tiredness
and lack of push. It was definitely good
to get back to the apartment, where I was very hungry. I had one of the best handfuls of roasted
almonds I ever ate, and the piece of bread and small sections of chocolate were
also pretty wonderful.
Avg speed = 16.4 mph. Total mileage = 81.3 mi
Total elevation gain = 4670'
