Cycle Flagler came along on a hot, windy Sunday. This ride gave me the chance to put some of my recent instruction into action!!
Last year, one of the highlights was just starting out riding on the airport runway. I took this opportunity to warm up slowly, at a reasonable pace, knowing it might be a windy day.
Though we were warned there might be sand from the high winds, I didn’t see any sand along the runway. Now, this is along the coast, so I knew later there was going to be sand on the road, but at least the starting point was free of this challenge.
Once we started down the road, it was clear strong winds would fight us right from the start. Our Team planned on switching lead every mile. One of my instructional lessons on moving to the front and rear came into play. I was determined to consciously make sure I looked back to check traffic before moving up to take my place in the front as lead. The A1A has its share of traffic along the narrow 2 lane road. My new awareness came in handy today each time we rotated.
Pedaling. Mashing. Mashing on the pedals is not a good thing. This ride gave me a chance to practice pedaling even strokes throughout the entire rotation. Now that I had the feel from Tracy’s instruction, I concentrated on replicating that, so I wasn’t mashing on those pedals.
Another tip that came in handy…cutting the distance into thirds. At times the wind pushed so hard that I had to focus on just getting to the next telephone pole. I used the same technique in approaching a hill on these flats. Such a simple yet effective way to feel the accomplishment to keep that momentum going.
Oh, and that sand I mentioned we should be aware of … yes, I did get sand-blasted within the first 10 miles. That was not a pleasant feeling. Thanks, Mother Nature, for letting me know you are always there.)
Event Day Statistics
This is the course charted by one of the team members who participated in the 40+ mile route.
Video
Ciao,
Diana
