Stingers...

Decided to go on a group ride today and it was fun. I got stung by some kind of flying insect on my way down to the ride. I felt it flew into my helmet but that happens so i kind of ignored it as they usually just fly out. Well this little bastard stung me in the temple. So i rip my helmet off to see what it is because i am allergic to bee stings (anaphylatic) and i can't find it. So i ride the rest of the way to the shop and have people look at it because my epi pen isn't with me.  My face started getting red patches like hives on it but my breathing was ok. So i went on the group ride and did fine. We rode Alden Mountain which was tough for me since i haven't been riding hills. It's kinda funny because true to form some guy passing me goes your a good rider but you don't like hills do you. Story of my life brother. Basically he kept catching me everytime we were climbing something. I'm gonna get my ass handed to me climbing up burlington! There isn't much I can do about it at this point since  i had to stop riding hills because of my knee it is just too late to get anything like that back now for burlington. Hopefully I will have it back for pocono mountain. I rode in the front until we got to the major climb. Then I got dropped but i was able to hang with the first chase group for most of the ride. So once the big climb up the mountain was done. We take a couple of minutes to wait for the rest of the group. So I pull out my honey stringer waffles that the managers of wegmans gave me to try out since that is a new product they will be carrying and damn this are really good!  I highly recommend trying them out because compared to gel and chews etc. they taste fantastic. They taste like real food. I will def pick some up because when you get to the point where you don't feel like eating they can be nice. anyway, they have a little picture of a lance armstrong riding his bike on them and another guy goes to me soooooo is that jay? I go . nope that's lance armstrong.  I just found that hysterical. I try to hang with the boys the rest of the way i'm riding hard 150-160 HR. I eventually get dropped but i'm still riding well for me so i'm trying not to worry about it. I ended up getting lost and adding a couple of miles onto my route but it's all good. To make me feel better one of the guys tells me how much he likes riding behind me because i have really beautiful legs. Now i want to see what my legs look like on a bike! lol! Comes from a guy that bikes and run i'll take it as a compliment. Rode 47.5 miles in 3 hours and 2 minutes but some of this was slower city riding. I averaged 15.6 mph. with a really fun 45 mph descent down the mountain.  if we took out the slow getting out of the city stuff i think it would have been a higher average.  I should start doing these rides more often because i think i push myself more when im already fatigued. Also it shows me when i get off things.  Like when im descending with them if i get offline i can see it. avg hr 144 ma 166. climbed 2220 ft. my legs are pretty tired now. have to go pickup my wb tri stuff and get ready to do my swim there tomorrow. They are calling for rain all day (big surprise) and thunderstorms in the morning so I hope I actually get the swim in! Also supposed to do a 6 mile run tomorrow. well see how the legs are feeling after today. My knee held up ok while riding but was stiff afterwards so im nsaiding and icing and hoping for the best. this knee better start behaving. I made some plans to train with a friend of mine that is great mountain biker and cyclocross guy. I want to try some of these races out in the offseason with him. Because if eagleman showed me anything it is a need to be able to hammer harder on the bike. At this point I feel like i have to ability to hammer for shortish distance like TTs or sprint Tris' and do really well but when the distance gets longer like eagleman I just don't have the legs for it yet. But i want them and have them I shall. Sometimes I wonder if it's the crossfit. I can ride 20 mph but I can't sustain it for 56 miles yet. Then again I rarely ride that kinda distance.