Bike Blog

Yesterday I did a 34 mile bike tour. I thought I was ready but my odometer was way off. I made it but it was much harder than I anticipated. The hills were steep and there was one right after another. I stopped a lot. I drank all my water and I learned to fill up at every stop just in case I run out. My bike is heavy, I love it but it is heavy. It looks like a cruiser and I have goo in the tires and that adds weight. I have learned that toe clips are a good idea for someone looking to increase the efficiency of their bike. For those of you who don't bike, this takes advantage of the full motion of a pedal so you get power when you bring your leg up as well as down. They do however make it harder to separate from your bike in a hurry if you need to. So I tried very hard not to use the easiest gears because then I just pedal frantically to get to where I'm going and its a poor use of energy (plus when I do that I hear the music in the wizard of OZ that plays when the which passes by on her bike). I had to do it some tough towards the end. This course was good and very beautiful in most spots. I saw horses running and rolling hills of Colorado wild flowers. However some spots had so much traffic it was a bit scary. At one point this guy turned around and said we might as well be on I-25. I stopped at every Aid station. One thing for next time I need to remember is to reapply sunscreen. I got pretty sun burnt because I only put it on once. I listen to my ipod but just in one ear so I can hear what is going on around me but I'm told that is dangerous. A sag wagon was at the second aid station and I did not want to give up so I kept going. I was told only 14 miles left so I kept on going. I am a bit of a fradie cat when it comes to going downhill fast. As the day progressed though I was less and less willing to sacrifice the speed going downhill due to the momentum it would give me up the next one and just surrender to the speed and the thrill of letting go. I found myself using the hard gears a lot during the easy parts to take advantage of the distance I could go.
When I got to the aid station that was 4 miles out from the finish line I was offered a ride. I considered it but felt I would not be happy with myself if I quit. I did however have a pretty good excuse becasue just north east of where we were some tornadoes touched down. I have a fascination with tornadoes and often have dreams about them. So I continued on and the steep hills never did seem to stop until the very end. A few things I seem to have going for me is endurance which makes up for my lack of speed. I also have tenacious determination to finish. For me this one was about finishing and not so much speed or winning.
My next goal is today actually. I'm going on a 15 mile ride to see and understand the route of the biathlon (or du , ? I'm not sure) I'm doing on Saturday. Its a home brew type dilio. It is actually a triathlon but you can choose your legs and I have not been swimming since a sprint tri i did in 07. So BIKE/RUN for me. I have some possible 5K coming up that excites me becasue coworkers are now becoming motivated and so is my family. So those will be more about cheering others on. Then in Aug I'm planning to do the Venus De miles, an all women bike ride with a few distances to choose from. I am not sure at this point which one I will do. I may join their club though just to train and learn about bike maintenance. I continue to surprise myself with what i can do physically and want to challenges others to do the same. No matter what your level of ability you can beat your best. If can do it anybody can!
~Jeno