Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Another year (day hundred and somethingth)

   Today I looked back at my first posts to think about where I am from where I began.  I still don't always feel that instant ease I sense from those who've biked consistently since childhood.  I'm not anxious on the bike anymore (I gripped the drops so tightly when I first started road biking that I tore the handlebar tape), but it's still not quite that almost oneness.  I know my bike, though, and I'm comfortable and am learning enough basic maintenance to do some repairs and tweaking.
   This year brought some fun new challenges, namely taking the bikes up into the mountains during a vacation in order to bike the famous Summit County bike trails.  They didn't disappoint.  My hybrid bike, though, did.  On the way back from our first (and ultimately only) family ride, my tube began bulging out of the tire and hitting the brake pads as it went around.  I had the sense to get off and have my daughter get off the tag-along that was attached, but even as I let out air, the darn tube exploded.  Not a pleasant way to end, walking the final quarter mile back to the car!  An attempt to replace the tube revealed that the bead had been damaged, so I couldn't get a seal against the rim....
   I did get out twice up there by myself on the road bike, too.  Once, I got a bit lost and turned around, so just above Frisco, I ended up heading back.  It was an experience, though, in that the planning of the ride on MapMyRide.com didn't reveal the sheer steepness of an area of the path as it went up the mountain!  The second time out alone, I'd reconfirmed where I was heading, so I didn't miss my turn.  I was also aware that every mountainous hill I sped down was one that I was going to face going back.  I made it as far as just before Dillon Dam when I turned back, clocking about 30 miles roundtrip that time.
   There is no doubt that getting to actually use my bicycle to get from one mountain city to another was a highlight this summer and that the bikes were taken to be part of the vacation.  I'm sorry that the hybrid's ruined tire kept more family rides from happening, but the scenery was breathtaking and well worth pushing my asthmatic lungs to their limits!
   Back on the plains, getting out on the bike has often been challenging.  The spring and early summer offered rain and high winds.  Then the heat came!  I've actually done well with getting out relatively early, but then I look back at the posts from that first summer and my going out every single morning!  Despite having no infants keeping us up with late feedings, it's harder for some reason, but I don't know why.  I now go on far longer rides...the hour I have to go out and be back can now be a 20-mile ride instead of 10- to 13-mile ride.  My wife has suggested it's part of the cost of the 50+ miles on Saturday: it wears me out too much to get up early during the week.  Still, I want to try...
   So, my main changes this summer have been that I can do that long 40-50 miles on the bike but no longer have to stop at the places I used to rest along the way, so my endurance is up significantly.  I used to stop at the bottom of a long hill of a road up to highway 36 and ponder why I was torturing myself, but I no longer do and, in fact, use my inhaler a couple miles back while staying on the bike.  I have even switched water bottles around without stopping, though it was a challenge.  To date, my longest single ride has been almost 55.5 miles, a long way from my first rides that were under five miles!
   I was getting some pain in my feet, so I have switched to road shoes from my touring shoes in order to have a stiffer sole.  I'm still using SPD pedals (now broader ones for road cycling) and haven't decided about switching to SPD-SL style pedals (my shoes can handle either type of cleats).  I have discovered the fun challenge of one-sided clipless pedals, though!  And by "fun," I mean the horror of trying to clip back in after stopping.  I get it: when out on the open road, you don't stop often, so having two-sided pedals is unnecessary.  But I have to get through town first!  And right now, the town is torn up all over the place for road construction....
   In the end, I'm not seeing the pounds melt away like that first year, but I'm not starting out with a bunch of weight to lose, plus the muscles in my legs are showing the effects of all my efforts...that and that nifty cyclist tan....

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