I rode in a charity ride that had three routes and wanting to challenge myself, I elected to ride the 60 mile route on an overcast, cold and very windy Sunday morning. I survived and had a great ride. The winds were coming out of the N NW at 14-15 mph with gusts from 20-23 mph and it seemed to follow me through the entire ride. I have a few takeaways or lessons-learned, if you will, that I will be sure to remember for future rides:
- Always, always wear eye protection. I missed the start time and was rushing to get on the road. When I grabbed my gear out of my car, my sunglasses fell onto the floorboard. It wasn't sunny out, but the wind was hard on the eyes, especially when wearing contact lenses. After the ride, it took me 5 minutes to peel them off my eyeballs, and that was with a heavy dousing of saline. I could have used tweezers and it would not have made a difference.
- On long rides, invest in chamois cream. Saddle sores are just no fun especially when you still have half the route to go.
- Keep you wits about you when clipping into your pedals. All of my falls (3 and counting) have been a result of thinking about something else and shifting my weight as I'm clipping in while standing still. At a rest stop, with about 25 miles to go, I was at about to start out, clipped my right foot in and stood on that foot with no intention of pedaling. Needles to say, I ended up on my back with a lot of support folks and fellow riders looking at the poor helpless person on the ground. Rather than try to brush it off, like it didn't happen, I embraced the incident and requested for more refreshments before getting up and starting out again.
Gold Rush Cycling Classic at Garmin Connect - Route
Dacus, Texas
Apolonia, Texas
Richards, Texas
Montgomery, Texas
Dacus, Texas
Until the next time
Keep you mind sharp, your body fit and pedal hard
MB&B
I'm glad I've never fallen but then again a 60 mile ride would kill me either way. Lolz
ReplyDeleteHAH! The fall bruises your pride more than anything else.
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