Yesterday I finally went on my maiden voyage on the new bike I got for my birthday. Erik found a beautiful, only slightly used Specialized on craigslist, which we adopted on March 21st. Ok, ok, granted, yesterday was April 10th, which means several weeks since purchase, but in fairness, I had some personal matters going o n, which impeded training.
Whilst at my parents house this last weekend, I took the opportunity to try her out. It's a lot different riding a road bike than a hybrid -- you are much more bent over and the wheels are 1/2 the size which raises my chance of eating asphalt by at least 1000%. On top of that, I had only used my clips and new shoes one other time, so I was nervous. My mom offered ideas on local streets around my house to practice on but somehow I took a wrong turn. There was a loud alarm that went off in my head as I was hurtling a 45degree downhill at what seemed like 30 mph. In conjuntion, I actually said 'oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck' about 10 times. This was not because I thought I might fall, but because it meant that after less than 5 minutes of riding, I had now sealed the fate of having to go up an even steeper hill on the way back. (don't ask me how that works,but it's true).
So after 7 minutes of riding, I ended up walking (which is not easy in bike shoes) about 15 minutes straight uphill back home. It was not pretty. My 45 minute ambitions were a bit too lofty. My plans to run were a joke. But at least I had now TRIED the new girl out.
So yesterday, in the South Bay and along 11 miles of oceanfront, I had my first REAL ride on a road bike -- 60 minutes followed by a 10 minute run -- and it was nice. It would have been nicer if I had realized my front brake was dragging on my wheel sooner than mile 6, but oh well....better workout, right?
This weekend, there are 2 ride/runs scheduled, which is good. I would say despite not working out today, I'll get 5 of 7 workouts in this week, so I'm back on track. 10 weeks to go.
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