Bull Canyon Run 2009 – Part 1 (To Ride or To Run. That is The Question)

I had been working in Northern California for the last three weeks. I had taken my bike up with me so I could keep up with my biking schedule. I had the Conejo ride scheduled for the weekend of May 9th. It’s my favorite ride of the year. And since my biking season started early this year, I decided to go for the 68 miler instead of the usual 35 miler that typically opens the season for the bank’s employee bike team.

I knew I couldn’t be off my bike for three weeks and do a 68 miler with hills. So I took my bike on my business trip with great enthusiasm and expectations. What a great way to unplug after work after all. Sure beats sitting in a hotel room every evening.

3 weeks; 0 bike rides.

Yeah it would be nice to sit in the hotel room in the evening. I basically was only in the room to crash at night. The work ended up being early days and late evenings. Also, I was not in a bike friendly town! No bike lanes. Actually, the roads didn’t even have shoulders. I was in a very rural area. The roads were mostly narrow farm roads that ran between moderately sized clusters of buildings that made up the little towns. All the residents of these towns would drive these tiny roads, very fast, bouncing between their homes and workplaces. I did not feel safe at all. If I was riding with even one more person, I would have felt better. I would have felt like we were more likely to be seen. But here, alone, hhhmmm; I don’t think so.

Anoter clue that this was not a bike friendly town was that I didn’t see another single biker! Not one. I was afraid the drivers wouldn’t even know what I was if they did see me on the road.

No the biking was not happening.

So between not biking for three weeks (except for the odd short one when I was home on the weekend) and the fact that to make it to the Conejo ride, I would have to get up at 5:00am and drive for two hours to get to Conejo. And that is after getting in late the night before from a four hour drive home. Hhhm, serious fatigue + no biking + 68 miles + tough hills = dead Jill. No. For the first time since the bank’s bike team formed, I would not be riding Conejo.

But I wanted to do something. I had been able to sneak in a few runs while traveling. And the Bull Canyon run was right in Santa Maria. I could literally roll out of bed and go run. Which is what I did.