Down the road

Oh, where to start, where to start? Hmmm. So much has happened since I last posted about cycling. I was doing so well, gradually increasing my mileage and had gotten up to 20 miles, which, for me, was huge! After that ride, I hadn't been able to ride as much due to work and such but I thought that because I was getting up there in the miles, I wanted to increase my efficiency. To do this, I changed out my pedals to the clip-less, which I still don't really understand why they call them that as you have to clip your shoe into the pedal. Anyway...for those of you who don't know how these work: you have a cycling shoe that has a special cleat on the bottom that "clips in" to the pedal and locks in your feet. So, to get out of these pedals, you just have to swing your heel outwards. Simple enough, right? Right! Just after you re-train your brain the order of events that must happen for your feet to touch the ground! Can you see where this is going? This is so embarrassing...five days after I hit my high mile mark, I fell off my bike...three times. Not once...but THREE friggen times! All of which were really stupid falls that really could have been prevented. First: I was taking a drink and didn't un clip my right foot and bike started to tilt right. Toast. Down I went, just standing there! So'kay, you can laugh! Second: I tried to start off going up hill. Don't do that. I didn't have enough ummpf to get going. Over I went. Third: I was trying to do a U turn on the trail and mis-judged how much room I had. This was a hard fall, directly on my left hand causing an injury that still is yet to be determined, not to mention multiple bruises on my upper right thigh. Right now it is diagnosed as a sprain, but I had an MRI on it yesterday and I will get the results tomorrow to know if its broken.

Needless to say, I haven't been riding 20 miles lately. However, I have still been riding, against better judgment all the while my wrist was screaming at me. I couldn't just stop riding. That is just craziness! So I have been taking short, sweet rides to keep me content until I heal completely and can get back in the saddle for longer periods of time.

Which brings me to a bit of excitement from tonights ride!!! I remember the first time I went out for a "real ride" (more than just around the block a few times) and going 8 miles. Do you know how long it took me to go 8 miles? It took me an hour and fifteen minutes! Gah...thats horrible! Tonight....I knew that I couldn't go far, so I decided to try and keep a steady pace and increase my speed to get a good workout. I did that 8 miles in 42.5 minutes!!! W00T!! I know that is probably still slow, but I know that I am getting better each time I go out and that makes me happy! I am proving to progress....

Until next time....Pedal Hard!!

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"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr