Railroad Tracks: Friend or Foe?

Recently we completed our longest ride to date, a mere 67 miles. This accomplishment did not come without  some blood, sweat and some almost tears. We chose to ride Harper's Loop for the day's ride but added some additional miles by starting at Maumelle Park. 

Sunflowers off Old England Highway

While Harper's Loop is primarily flat it's not necessarily the easiest ride. Flat means there is little to no coasting and therefore you are literally pushing it the whole time. We are usually in good spirits for the first 30-40 miles and then we hit a slump.On this particular day we had yet to catch our second wind. Just about the time I was mentally back in the game, we came upon some familiar railroad tracks. I say "familiar" because we have a history with these particular tracks. A few weeks prior, Elizabeth did not successfully complete her journey across said tracks. Me, being myself, laughed hysterically at this event. And yes, I made sure that she was okay.

One of our many stops to refill on water.

Flash back to the present. I'm now about to cross Elizabeth's favorite railroad tracks a head of her to show her that there's nothing to worry about. WRONG! I cleared the first track with no problem, but when it came time to cross the second my front tire went along the track throwing me and my bike into the hot pavement. It was like the cycling gods were getting back at me for laughing at Elizabeth a few weeks earlier. Elizabeth was lucky to leave her crash site unscathed. Me....not so much. As soon as I hit the pavement I wanted to jump up because it was so hot. However, I was unable to do so. I left the scene with scratched palms, a busted left elbow, and a scraped and bruised left leg.

One of my battle wounds; Railroad Tracks 1 - Allison 0

So the good news is that I was very lucky that these are the only wounds I received. After getting back on my bike it hit me that we had 15-20 miles left to ride. Those were the toughest miles I've experienced thus far. My legs were already tired, but now battered and I had to keep telling myself just a little bit further. As we continued onward, I fought back the tears when sweat hit my open wounds. I'm thoroughly convinced there is nothing worse than that. I was lucky to have Elizabeth by my side to crack jokes and encourage me on what seemed like the longest 20 miles of my life.