Gah... bad ride.

I had a relatively bad ride last night, but I pretty much expected that. I hadn't eaten much yesterday or the day before, so my energy level was already low. Plus, I overextended my right hamstring, and it was sore. It was chilly, so I wore a jersey, arm warmers and a wind breaker. A couple people made fun of me for wearing long-fingered gloves, but I knew as soon as the sun started going down, I'd be freezing without them, and I was right. I never understand why people chide others for their clothing preferences. We all get cold/warm at different rates. Oh well.

So, anyway, I got dropped on the very first hill because they all decided to attack. I don't think even if I had the energy that I would have been able to keep up. I mean, this hill is only 1/4 mile after the start of the ride, and it takes me a good 30 minutes to get really warmed up. Geez. So, I stayed back, and went at my own pace into the headwind. About 5-7 miles into the ride, I became really tired, my back was killing me (I really need to see a chiropractor), my neck was becoming sore, my hamstring hurt, and my knees were already hurting--if it's been a while since I've ridden outside, my knees will start complaining. So, I continued on, even though a part of me really just wanted to turn around. However, I knew the group would worry about me if they didn't see me, so I kept going. At about 13.5 miles, exhausted and in more pain, I turned around. I thought I had seen the rest of the group coming at me, so I figured it was safe. Turns out it wasn't them.

There was a slight tailwind, which was helpful, but the big hills are uphill going back home. It was then that my knees reeeeally started hurting, way more than they ever have before. I did everything I could think of (other than resting, haha) to ease the pain--changing my position, stretching out my legs while in the saddle, massaging my knees, slowing down--but nothing really worked. This went on for pretty much the rest of the ride home. I was miserable. BUT, I'm still really glad I went.