Last Training Ride!!

Route: Our Old Faithful--495 service road to Bethpage Bike Path
Mileage: 100 miles

Well, the morning started off with excitement!  The tandem was finally getting her green handlebars!  Jen had been wanting to do it for weeks, but Keegan wanted to switch out his handlebars.  So that morning, both finally happened!  We then donned ourselves with our spiffy new jerseys to give them a good breaking in!  Keegan mocked Jen for being so excited about matching...but it truly was that exciting.  I mean, look at us, blue bike, green handlebar tape, blue and green jerseys?  We are the perfect meld of Arthritis Foundation's colors of old and new.  We looked badass.

We wanted to practice with a loaded bike, so we stuffed a bunch of towels in our new waterproof duffle bag, loaded two panniers, put on Jen's new cell phone mount, made a makeshift fender in the back so Jen doesn't get so wet when riding...we were ready to see what it would be like! It was actually pretty cool, so we both started with jackets, but then it was time for the big jersey reveal, and it was so awesome!

We went to our same burger place at the end of the bike path, it's not terribly delicious but does the trick.  Realizing we need more calories and protein, we each got 2 double doubles and a hot dog.  Nutritious, no?  Well, because their shakes are gross there, Jen walked next door to an ice cream parlor to get proper milkshakes.  Nutrition complete.

We love that bike path, we actually counted all the rabbits we saw this time--31 rabbits in total! We saw our Canada geese and swan families.

We got several waves and thumbs up as we rode back.  Jen was sure they had seen the hashtags and twitter handle and were following up...and would then donate!  Or so she hoped!  Just think how many people we will reach as we ride down the coast!

We were almost to the final stretch when we got our first flat tire of the day.  There is so much construction and torn up roads as you get back into NYC.  We were actually in a lousy place to get a flat, no shoulder as our route merged with an off ramp.  So we had to walk with traffic until we got to the sidewalk.

And then JEN STARTED TO HURT.

We were now many 10 min from home with Jen's knee shot fireworks through her body.  It was not her usual knee pain.  It was sharp and fierce and took her breath away.  But they were so close to home, Keegan did most of the heavy lifting to pedal them back.  It came and went and she'd gasp as it shot through her leg.  Who knows what it was.  When she got home and could walk around, it was gone.  Very much hope it stays gone.  Her ankle also jammed on a bump her foot was not positioned well to take, but she can't control where the pedals are so she can sometimes take a beating.

When we got home, Jen's quads were so sore it felt like they were bruised.  We had done the same route as always, no real difference or explanation, but she was quite sore.  It was between that and the massive amount of work we both needed to catch up on that they decided that would be our last training ride.  No need to overdo it, we were ready.  Best thing we could do is rest our bodies before we set sail.

And like that--training was over.  Next stop--Florida (ok, ok, many stops on our way)!!