Taking back what's mine......

I needed a day. So I took one. 

I got up and headed to Owasippe. Solo. I knew Dave and Jay were riding Upper Mac, Wahfield, Merrill and Luton. I was craving Owasippe. It is such a cool trail....and I was going to destroy my legs. What better way to do it...than on a trail with lots of climbs.

Owasippe

When I arrived there were a few people in the parking lot, so I didn't feel so anxious about riding alone. I geared up and headed out. First two miles are my favorite....fast. Only issue I had was my new shoes. They were killing my feet. Hurting to the point that I actually stopped and took them off. Reset them and moved on. Finally about 10 miles in my feet were used to them and I was feeling better. I think that pain took away from my legs. lol. I rode the outer loop and and then the inner loop. Legs were feeling ok. I was actually faster on some segments than the last time I rode here....and that was before LJ100. Interesting. 

I loaded up, texted MC and headed to Merrill. During transit I got a call from Jay. They were at Merrill and ready for their second lap. They decided to wait since I was only a few minutes away!

I arrived at Merrill and everyone was there. Dave, Jay and MC were ready to go. Unloaded, geared up...and off we went. Merrill is historically not my favorite place to ride. I don't mind the technical, I am just not fast in the tight and twisty trails. Then, add in the pace that Jay and Dave ride....ugh. I was holding on for dear life...literally. We took the Siren loop that I love. ZOOM. The more I ride the Anthem the more I trust it....still not 100% trust...but getting there. Eventually I got dumped....MC was nice enough to stay with me. I wasn't far behind...but the legs were feeling stressed. Jay and Dave headed to Luton while MC and I went out for another lap. We even did Sawtooth, which wasn't as scary as I remember. We got done with that loop and headed to Luton.

I was looking forward to riding here.....unfortunately....my legs were not. As I hit the 40 mile mark for the day I started to cramp. I was forced to slow down. I wanted to do 2 loops but I only managed one. Still such a fun trail. I was just out of gas. 

Thanks to Jay, Dave and MC for hanging out with me. Fun day on the bike.

Now, why the title. I had a purpose for Friday. It was to take back what was taken from me. Since LJ and the deer episode I have not been riding much. Then throw in the speed sucking staph infection and I was really starting to wonder what happened. So, I took some time off and let my body heal. Did a few rides and was feeling a bit better. True test was last weekend on Kal-Haven. I was holding on for dear life in a pace line. I was feeling really good. But I wasn't convinced that I had taken my speed back. So, I decided to stress my legs more on Friday. Either get back what speed and endurance I had....or destroy myself trying. While I didn't feel like I had all my climbing  power back....I felt much better on the bike that I have in a long time. So I took it back. I had to....I earned it in the first place.