June 26,2012

I don't think that anyone who knows me would ever have expected that I'd have taken so much to the bicycle, including me!  It's heading onto a year now, and I'm starting to reflect on that year (that'll actually wait until it is a year :).  Now I find myself doing little tweaks to the bike, like having the chain squeak a little yesterday so I stopped and cleaned and regreased the chain and gears.

I have been braving this horrible heat, but it has meant getting out early.  I about gave in and called my wife to come and get me on Sunday...it was just so hot!  I ended up planning the return route based upon how to get home the fastest, which did mean a major road with no bike lane...I was too hot to care about being on the sidewalk, which is where there was the little bit of shade I could find from tees in people's backyards.  I did end up going 24.46 miles by the time I finally made it home.  Monday's rides are shorter, just a bit over 12 miles as I go to both the nearby Walmarts.  Tuesdays, though, are nice long rides.

Today, I made it out a bit after 6am, and it was already 64F!  I made it to the Walmarts then headed up to Target, which wasn't open when I got there.  Instead of going and sitting to wait for it to open, I found myself more inclined to just bike around the store, making to laps before they opened their doors.  Of course, nothing I was looking for was there, either, so I got back on the bike and made my way back home.  I just didn't feel like dealing with traffic, so I got back on the path at its end then working my way back with more shade and some cool coming off the river the path follows.  It took me about two hours, but I did make it 27.94 miles before getting home as the temps were climbing.

One skill I know I need to work on is standing as I go up hills.  I find that I just shift the gears and stay seated, but I see cyclists powering up hills all the time.  I have decided I need to work on that, too.  I do it already to get going at stoplights or on the trail with the kids in the trailer, so I figured it was just a matter of doing it.  So I tried it today going up a steep hill on the road.  Okay, that hurt like my legs were on fire!  Obviously, it's going to take a few times to figure out which gear is best...I'm assuming it's stand up instead of shifting, but man, the tops of my legs were on fire!  I have to admit, avoiding the heat and traffic of the road was part of the decision to take the path to get home, but I also couldn't face some of hills required of the road route!  I guess it'll just take time to master this....