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March 06, 2005
My first longer ride of the season
Today I rode the 20 miles from St. Paul to Burnsville where I work at the group home, then back again tonight. Those were two very interesting and wonderful experiences. Spring is awesome! I rode over Glacial flows where big sheets of ice were encroaching on the road, through countless rivers of water from the melting ice and found a few hidden potholes that jarred me to the bones. I also remembered why I dislike flat tires. I got one on my way to work this morning and it totally broke my pace. And to make matters worse, I did not have a patch kit in my bag. But thankfully, my intuition kicked in this morning and told me to throw that extra tube in my backpack. It was a last minute thought before I ran out the door. So I wasn’t stranded, but it did take me 26 minutes to change my tube and get back on the road. I really need to speed that process up a bit.
Coming home it was dark. I had lights, but I also remembered why I don’t like riding long distances in the dark. I could not tell what was ice and what was water, so I slipped in a few places but didn’t go down. Also, potholes hide very nicely under those puddles of water! It didn’t seem to damage my rim but I sure felt bent out of shape, haha. That hurt! This is the same reason I stopped riding long distances last Fall after the daylight-savings-time switch. I never did invest in a super bright 20-watt headlight but maybe before next Fall I’ll do that. Also, another strange thing about riding at night is that it feels like I’m going faster than I really am. On my way home I only averaged 16mph for the 20 miles, when it felt like I was going about 18-20mph. Haha, maybe that was wishful thinking. But maybe because my sense of sight was limited, I was more tuned into the feel of the bike’s motion.
Now I’m tired and ready for bed, but I’m looking forward to running tomorrow at lunchtime in my new running shoes. I think I’ll be able to tell on that 5.5 mile course if they feel better than my old shoes and if some of the shock is absorbed better.
This was my first ride on my road bike this season, so it felt a lot different than my mountain bike and it didn’t feel right the whole ride. I have to adjust a few things for proper fit. For some reason I could not tell it was not set up properly last year when I was riding it, but now I can tell. My handlebars are not high enough and my legs are bending too much, so I’ll have to adjust my seat also. So that’s on my list of things to do this week.
I think overall I felt really good on this ride and did not feel like I had been sitting around all winter, which I wasn't. I felt really strong on the hills. I think that is the running paying off, plus my daily commute up the Ohio Hill probably helps ;-)
Posted by carl1236 at March 6, 2005 10:46 PM | Cycle Racing