90 MILES: DISTANCE, OR WIND SPEED?

My Ironman is in 9 weeks, and the training rides have been getting longer. This weekend we did 90 miles. We started at Zuma Beach in Malibu and rode up the coast to Ventura. It was chilly when we started, in the low 50s, but I lived in L.A. long enough to know how the ocean works: it's cold in the morning, then the cloud layer burns off and it warms up very quickly. So I dressed for the warm late-morning weather. Only the cloud layer never burned off and the warm weather never came. It was a cold ride.

I did a pretty good job keeping up with the lead group for the 45-mile outbound trip, but I admit they smoked me on the way back. In my defense, the three of them are doing an Ironman one month before I am, so they are coming up on the peak of their training while I'm a few weeks behind. (It's a lame excuse, but I'll use it anyway.)

We had some difficult and odd sections along the ride. We rode through - of all things - celery fields. There are two problems with this; first, having a large open space close to the beach means the ocean "breezes" turned into hurricane winds. It made for some very difficult riding. The second problem, frankly, is that it stunk. Celery might smell nice when it's one or two stalks in a stew, but when you have to ride through a couple hundred acres of the stuff it becomes overwhelming.

As with many rides, the last few miles were the most difficult. To understand why, I need to explain the layout of Zuma Beach: The parking lot is about 1.5 miles long, running right along the Pacific Coast Highway, with the only entrance on the south end. We meet at the far north end of the parking lot. So our rides begin be heading 1.5 miles south through the parking lot, then turning around and heading north up PCH. And of course, we do the reverse on the way home. After 87 miles, it is frustrating riding within 100 feet of your car and knowing you still have a couple miles to go, but that's just the way of it.

I was riding pretty fast down PCH and mistakenly thought I was getting my second wind. But no, I soon discovered I was being whisked along by a strong tailwind. Which immediately became an insurmountable headwind when I made the 180 degree turn into the parking lot. These were the strongest winds I've ever ridden in, and they were even blasting sand into my face and legs. I'm sure I looked ridiculous tucked into my high-speed aero position while struggling to hit 10mph.

There's a certain sense of accomplishment when you reach the top of a steep hill that you just don't get fighting the wind. I'll take hill-climbing over winds any day. My Ironman race is in Idaho which has some rolling hills and I THINK has a reputation for being mostly wind-free. As long as there isn't any celery I should be OK.