Atrophied Cankle in the Rain

Tim and I had planned a 7:00am ride for this morning.  At 6:30 a storm with heavy rain and lightning was moving through.  We made the decision to wait it out.  By 7:00, things had settled down, and I headed out in the rain (by then, just a drizzle) to meet up for the ride.

I took the more direct, but hillier, route along Eastern Parkway.  My loss of fitness was obvious.  I was terribly slow up the hills.

My right ankle swells up frequently.  I call it a cankle.  The calf-portion of the cankle has atrophied due to the achilles tendon not being connected to the foot for a while – then not walking on it – and finally walking carefully on it with a limp.  So, I have an atrophied cankle, and I took it out in the rain.

It was about 65F degrees.  I dressed in shorts and short sleeves.  That was probably under-dressing considering the rain.

Tim and I headed around some neighborhoods to warm up before hitting the hills.  I had already warmed up on Eastern Parkway, but I was glad to tone it down a bit.

The hilly roads in the park are a lot of fun.  I had to ride the brakes a lot to dry them while descending into a curve, but it’s all part of the fun.  There were no accidents or almost-accidents.  I am a bit out of practice with fast riding in the rain.

During the ride we had two downpours.  One of those times included a little lightning and thunder.  It passed.  We looped through St. Matthews, Mockingbird Valley, and Indian Hills before heading back to Breadworks for coffee.

I stayed warm during the ride.  I think the effort I was putting into keeping up with Tim kept me warm.

We arrived at Breakworks much drier.  The rain had let up.  We each had coffee and a snack before going our own way.

The ride home was cold.  I had sat, cooling off, at Breadworks.  My top speed for the day was also in the stretch home.

I got home with 31 miles on the odometer.  I took a warm shower, poured another cup of coffee and sat on the front porch with the dogs for a while.

This has been a good start for the day.