SIR Summer Populaire 2010

This years SIR Summer Populaire was considerable easier than last, and I finished in a smidge under 5 hours.  A few gently rolling hills and a headwind presented the only challenges along the way.  The weather and views were great, and most of the roads were too. I was amazed at how quickly we were able to get out of Olympia and into more rural areas, it was quite a nice treat.

I felt pretty good when I finished, tired - but not overly so.  The next day my right Achilles tendon was really hurting though, and I took almost 2 weeks off.  My guess is that it was tender after I pushed much harder than usual keeping up with some faster riders, we rode around 17 - 18 mph together, probably 2 mph or so faster than I would have alone.  I lost contact with them in the headwind though, I just couldn't keep the pace up.

My goal this year was a 200k, but that probably won't happen.  It's hard to find the time for the event, and even hard to find time for the training.  I'm stronger this year than last, but I just don't feel confident about doing over 100 miles with climbing, maybe next year.  I suppose there is an outside chance I'd try a 200k permanent before winter, but we'll see.  I would like to do one more 60+ mile organized ride this summer, but I need to find the right one.  Let the googling commence!