Riding, May 29, 2006 - Clermont, Hills, and Dehydration

I am way behind on posting my rides. I did put up summaries of most of the BRAG rides over on the main blog. It is time to get caught up.

On Memorial Day, I drove down to Clermont to ride a route down there that is used for some of the longer triathlons. It includes several good hills. I figured that it would make for good training to prepare for BRAG. I brought along several bottles and tried to drink regularly. I thought that I was doing well, as I had to stop and relieve myself several times during the day. However, before I got back to the car, the hills and the heat got to me. I was either dehydrated, suffering mild heat exhaustion, or some combination of the two. I wound up getting off the bike to walk up one short hill, stopping frequently, then finally, I just laid down in the grass in somebody's yard, under the shade of a small tree. I finally got up the energy to finish the ride, and I was glad that it was over.

Along the way, I did see some very beautiful scenery, including the Monteverde school, Howey in the Hills, and some nice lakes and hills.

Stats:
4:31:22
56.01 mi.
12.3 mph avg.
39.3 mph max.

I have a GPS file with the hills and the map. Maybe I will create the images and post them in a few days.