Oh, The Weather Is Frightful

Thursday morning as I reflected on the previous day’s lesson – don’t try to charge uphills yet – this little guy stopped me 10’ away.   He posed for some time, allowing me to admire the fur collar around his neck.  He was showing me the need to slow down, take my time and, yes, take the dam picture so he could get on with crossing the road!

So in Danford Lake I stopped in the park to  have 2nd breakfast.  I chatted a little with Reni and Zack whose field I camped in the previous night. They were at kids camp in the park and were pretty proud of their dad’s cycling adventures. Their parents, Marcel and Helen, had been so kind to me. 

I did pedal smart the rest of my day. I miscalculated the distance though to Lac St. Marie and arranged a room rental through the cycling network. I was happy to know I’d be inside since I knew a storm was forecasted (through my watch) but couldn’t find any time or other details through weather apps. 

An old timer in the Danford Lake store told me that all power workers in Quebec were out on a forced holiday shutdown for 2 weeks.  He said that’s why the area’s weather outlooks were showing blanks on my apps.  Anyway, everyone assured me the storm was much later and would be short. 

As I stood on Gracefield’s Rue St. Joseph, hunting for the convenience store for a quick resupply, the wind started whirling and, simultaneously, the rain came down “bucket” heavy!  I bolted for the Resto Smoke’n Grill Burger Pub. As I parked my Carver 420 between the steps and the covered deck, the wind started tearing the roof panels up and slamming them back down.  So I bolted around back and found an area where the 420 would be better protected. 

Once inside, the staff told me to take 2 tables and use 1 to dry out my things. They conferred with many of the other guests trying to come up with a place for me to stay. There were many tries but they all failed, except for the one that was 17 kilometers in the wrong direction.  The hostess wanted to call her husband to drive me and my bike there in his pickup truck. I declined the kind offer since it was just too much distance off-course, even with a one-way ride.  

The storm died down and it did look calm, although a little eerie.  I finally had weather app information and another thunderstorm was predicted at 10 pm along with a tornado warning through Friday. 

Yes, I could pedal for a couple of hours before the 10 pm storm but it would take me more than double that to get to Lac St Marie and a room, 34 miles away —lots of chunky gravel on the route. I don’t mind camping in the rain if I have to, but I wouldn’t want be in a tent in the kind of storm from which I had just sought shelter. Plus, the tornado warnings …..

When Mike and I talked, I learned there would be more deteriorating weather conditions over the next couple of days.   Yes, I have gotten much stronger over these last two rides but my body has not fully recovered yet. There’s a reason I’m still in PT 🙂 

So…..my physical condition from trying to push too hard on Wednesday, along with my sub-optimal overall physical condition, and the weather-oh, the weather!  All conspired to make the next 34 mile section too risky.   Too bad lodging options are so few and far between that I couldn’t even wait out the weather. 

So I pulled the plug & turned off my tracker. 

My hero husband, Michael Feldman, who had just completed the race in 4 days plus some hours, who had just become a Lifetime Finisher having completed all 3 races in the St Lawrence Triple Crown, who had just finished the race after midnight, drove through 3 tornado warnings to retrieve me before my restaurant shelter closed. He drove through some crazy weather, staying just ahead of a number of road closures. I’m happy to call Mike my wingman!

Interesting number 320….I think my mileage here matches my dropout point on the Butter Tart race last month.

The Butter Tart was my 1st rehab race, barely 9 weeks post-op following small bowel resection surgery to remove a 50-year old adhesion. That adhesion (invisible to all diagnostic tests available) had basically glued a section of my small intestine to the abdominal wall. My movements had always been inexplicably restricted and the surgery made clear why.

The Butter Tart was quite a helpful PT ride, as I gained strength while following my physical therapist’s orders to stay seated. Without right abdominal core activation, it was important for me not to stand up out of the saddle. That made preventing or adjusting for saddle sores impossible but I managed to ride 320 miles.

With my body finding new movement possible, I realize I had been pursuing all the activities I love as though I had one hand tied behind my back all these years.

My backpack was only tolerable with the hip belt synched down tight over that intestinal area, but I managed to backpack for a few years through Africa, Europe and the Himalayas.

I whitewater kayaked for decades by synching a band over my kayak skirt to support that intestinal area.

Now my body no longer needs to instinctively protect my right abdomen.

With the Log Drivers Waltz I worked on getting out of the seat to coast as much as possible. My “standing to coast” ability and stability became way stronger than my pre-surgery ability in just a few short days.

I started to gradually work on pedaling while standing – 4 standing pedal strokes the first day, 8 the next, continuing to double or add 12 each day until I achieved 48 standing pedal strokes in 1 day! Granted, this work was only on the gentle baby hills and I still had to pedal up the LDW monster hills while seated.

So the LDW also proved to be a good PT/recovery/rehab ride. Of course I’m disappointed not to have finished, but I think my recovery is coming along quite well.

There’s lots to recap later, but until then stay dry!