Sunday, July 8, 2012

It's that time of year again

It seems like all over the country it's been well over the normal highs, but here in North Florida, it's normal.  Hot ass piss.  But the one good thing about these hot as temps, is spring rides!  Ahhh..it's been awhile, but spring rides are no doubt the highlight of the summer training season. 

Yesterday we had a fantastic group meet up for a 60ish hilly ride through the northern part of the state.  People say that there are no hills in Florida (besides bridges) but I beg to differ.  We had some brutal, long climbs and some very high temps.  It was so hot that when I put my head down, sweat just poured down onto my bike and bento box.  I know that is kind of gross, but it makes me feel pretty bad ass.  

And you know you are in the sticks when you come across a gas station like this:
16oz Natural Light for .99?  Awesome!  

Trick to beat the heat - when you stop, throw your helmets into the ice freezer!  

But after 50 miles my legs where trashed.  Thankfully, the oasis (otherwise known a Ponce De Leon Springs) was right around the corner.
As soon as the dumb 10 min train passed:
Yep, we took up a large section of the road.  

We rode up to this:

Ahhh....a big, fresh, natural ice bath!



I love it because the locals look at us like we are crazy:
"Where did you ride from?"
"How far have you ridden?"
"My, those are fancy bikes!"

But it's so refreshing.  And it's an awesome recovery.  We strategically plan where we start from in relation to the springs.  So a quick 10 mile spin on the bikes after the spring, and we are done!  

So, it's tough riding.  But the benefit is so worth it.

Now that I'm back full time into swimbikerun training, I'm sure we will have many more rides this summer!

GOOD LUCK to all of my REV3 family racing in REV3 Portland today!  Ahhh..after all of this wedding business is over, I'll be looking forward to racing this amazing race next year!  









5 comments:

Joel said...

I love springs! Never thought about cycling to one. Must look for a place relatively close to Jax so I can try it myself.

Annette@(running)In the Right Direction said...

Wow...that is super cool! That would be such a great incentive to keep going knowing that was at the end of my run or bike. Where is that?

Kurt @ Becoming An Ironman said...

That's an awesome idea to plan around the Spring. I might have to look into whether there's one in my area to use.

Jason said...

Helmets In The Freezer = Genius!

Anonymous said...

I was going to send you a "please blog again" message yesterday, but decided against it, assuming you were busy. BUT I THINK YOU READ MY MIND. Nice job :)

Every time you post, all I can think about is moving to your neck of the woods (in a completely non-stalkerish way). It looks amazing!

And 'hot as piss?' That's graphic!

Looks like a great ride!

-Katie