Karim and I left the house around 9AM this morning. We wanted to get out by 8, but as things go on vacations (this is a vacation, right?), we putzed around a bit longer than planned. Between eating some breakfast, making one last trip to the can and getting dressed, we still got on the road before the worst of the heat and sun took over, though. We headed toward Austin – with a map this time – and found some decent roads with little traffic and plenty of shade. The roads around here, for the most part, are very rough, like a cheese-grater. Crashing on this stuff would be hell.
We wound up with a solid 3+ hour ride today and turned around in a town called Buda. My legs were a bit tired from two prior days of good miles, and as much as I tried to tell Karim that, he was sure I was just setting him up for a hard effort up the final climb back home. I guess I was laying it on a bit thick, making it painfully obvious at times that I was trying to psyche him out, but there was a grain of truth to my insistence on being a bit sapped today.
In retrospect, we were laughing about how over-the-top competitive we were (and usually are) with each other the last few miles before the base of the climb up to the house. Although we weren’t openly acknowledging it with each other, we were secretly taking easy pulls in preparation for the final push. We rounded the corner at the base of the climb and I blasted past him, jabbing him with a “plip, plip” (an inside joke) as I went by. He matched me and we conceded easy pulls for the rest of the way – until the last rise.
Although this may be sounding like the lead-in to an exciting finish, I won’t bore you with the details. We decided today was a tie. Sure, Karim hooked me hard so I couldn’t exactly come around him, but won’t dwell on that.
Until tomorrow…