June 17, 2013...well, I feel stupid...

   Well, it's been about three years now since I first began biking, so I celebrated that fact a bit by getting a new pair of bibs and a jersey to make a Louis Garneau kit.  After recovering all last week to a pulled tricep in my right arm, this morning, found me fortunate enough to get the offer of child care, so I dropped off the kids then headed out.  I was cruising right along, making certain to stop with a foot down at a stop sign I know through blogs and groups that the police are handed out $100 tickets to cyclist for coasting through (or not even slowing).
   Continuing on, I noted that I'd been maintaining about 17mph or better average along the way.  For some stupid reason, I decided to really push myself and do a bit of a sprint.  Yeah, that's where my trouble began.  I pulled over at a country driveway to drink and cool back down, but it wasn't happening very fast.  I took my inhaler (gotta love cycling with asthma), but things just kept worsening as I tried to add water reasonably.  Then I started feeling faint, so I thought the better part of valor might be to scoot up to the patch of grass and sit down (lay down, if necessary) until I was feeling less shaky.  Barely coming to a stop, I fell like the proverbial sack of potatoes.  Getting back up, like any cyclist, I checked my bike and my brand new kit to make sure everything was okay then did a cursory check of me...still dizzy but upright with some bumps.
   I'd planned to take the newly tuned-up bike and my new gear on a nice long ride, but I was barely over nine miles out.  With my head swimming, I called my wife.  I don't know what I expected her to be able to do beyond talk me out of trying to go on and go home instead.  I knew that's what I should do, but I think my ego needed to be told that someone would be too worried to have me try to go on.
   Feeling completely stupid, I turned around and headed home at a much slower pace, taking my time and begin very aware of my body lest I get dizzy again and fall into traffic.  I have to say, basically passing out off the bike is far worse as far as embarrassing than the failure to clip.  On the bright side, I fell in grass this time instead of asphalt, so I'm more bruised and dinged.  And being in true cyclist mode this summer, the wounds I did get on my leg were easier to clean up.
    In retrospect, I realize that I probably wasn't prepared for being out in 70+ temperatures.  For those temps, I should've hydrated a bit before getting on the bike.  Plus, while my legs were doing great maintaining higher speeds, the rest of me wasn't at the point and that temperature, so I need to balance things better and probably get out on the bike sooner while it's still cool(er), especially since I feel like I missed some of the natural transition of going from spring to summer temperatures.
   On the bright side, I did have several cyclists who passed me double check to see if I was okay.  I lied and said I was, but it's nice to know that if I hadn't gotten right back up, someone would've checked my unconscious form by the road.  Now off to tend to the bruises on my body (I found more after getting home) and ego....

June 2, 2014

   This has been a challenging year for cycling; between epic flooding followed by arctic blasts and snow then long bouts of illness, I just didn't get out as much as I'd have have hoped.  Starting now, though, I'm trying.  This last Saturday did include a 36-mile ride, which was refreshing, though it admittedly left me pretty sore after having not been out for about five weeks.
   The previous ride included my tire (not just my tube) blowing out, so I've had to get new tires.  At the suggestion of a colleague who's a devout cyclist, I put on 25m Vittoria's (up from 23m).  They have just a little bit of tread and extra material, which makes a surprising amount of difference, especially when cornering...the tread doesn't actually touch the pavement much except when cornering.  They're also Kevlar, so I'm hoping they hold up a lot better in the fall against slashes and the dreaded and demonic goat heads!
   On top of all of it, though, we've inherited a trailing bike for the oldest, which I attached to the hybrid last night to take out for the first time:

Honestly, I was a bit terrified at the thought of keeping us both upright, but we did well with only a little wobbling.  She, however, freaked out at first.  I didn't account for the fact that she's used to going around with training wheels and not having to maintain speed, so there she was, holding on while I was going 5 mph to keep us upright.  After the tears, we were fortunate enough to have a neighbor out with his dog, so he paced us as I got going again, and he was able to add enough distraction that we made it to the corner.  Soon, she was going like an old trooper.  In fact, I was coasting down a hill when she called, "Daddy, you're not pedaling!"  When I told her I was just letting us roll, she said, "We'll, I'm pedaling!"  No wonder I was accelerating despite the feathering of my brakes!  And, along with everything else, I noticed that one of the back brake pads is past the wear mark, so I get to learn how to replace bike pads now!