Today I finally made it out on a bike ride - I've been chomping at the bit since Thursday when I left the Tri shop, but I had to deal with the other parts of my life before I could take off for a couple of hours.
I woke up this morning with more chest pains but not as bad as Friday. (oh yeah, had scary chest pains Friday night. Right in the middle of a Pampered Chef party - had 20 people in my house, so I had to act calm and pretend nothing was going on. Calling doctor on Monday.) Haven't died yet, so I was resolved to get out on my bike today. It was a glorious 67 degrees - from my back yard there was a breeze but it didn't seem out of control. I checked weather.com and it said 10-20 mph. Now, that should have been a huge, screaming red flag because I've ridden in that kind of wind before and it wasn't a pretty picture. But, I reasoned, I couldn't just ride in perfect weather, because then I'd never be prepared for whatever races had to throw at me.
My next - I hesitate to call it a mistake - let's say error in judgement, came when I decided that I wanted to give my new gear a real go, so instead of riding a quick neighborhood/bike trail loop I headed out to the quiet farm roads about 20 minutes from here. Between having chest pains as recently as this morning and testing new gear, I should have known better than to opt for a ride on deserted farm roads. Luckily nothing happened other than not being able to turn around and go home when I realized how windy it really was... which, one could argue, is actually a good thing.
I really love it out there because it reminds me so much of where I grew up. Open fields for miles and miles, dotted with farms, passing through clouds of air perfumed with the warm, earthy scent of cows, the breeze punctuating that with the occassional sharp, unpleasant tang of pigs. Very, very few cars. The old blacktop road so cracked and pitted in some places I bet it's got very little on the Roubaix cobblestones. And the hills - did I forget to mention the hills? I start just outside of Hebron Illinois, but the route crosses more or less immediately into Wisconsin... thus the hills. I'm convinced whoever decided the state boundaries just drew a line where the hills started.
I struggled with my new pedal system, both in the store and today. The great thing about my new Speedplays is the float is incredible. My knee barely hurts at all after that ride. The bad thing about my new Speedplays is the float is incredible. I had him loosen them up as much as possible and I still almost can't get them unclipped. My SPDs were a piece of cake and I was completely confident with stop signs, even sudden stops. Now I dread every stop sign and am in terror of needing to stop suddenly because I am seriously stuck to that bike.
This wasn't the best ride to test new equipment on - rolling hills mixed with moderate hills, no flats at all, into a 20 mph unrelenting head/crosswind. The wind was so strong I couldn't even build up momentum on the downhills to help me up the next grade. As a result, I was grinding up even the gentle rollers at a snail's pace.
Doing just that at mile 3 my fear about unclipping got its first test when my chain came off. I had NO momentum and only got a few feet of coasting uphill in which to unclip. I did manage to get my right foot out just as I came to a stop, and teetered on the edge of balance for a moment, willing myself to fall to the side with the free foot. Luckily I did, and then set about the task of unclipping the left foot. Putting the chain back on was surprisingly simple - never had it happen before, so happily my worries on that score were unfounded.
I'd gone into the ride thinking I'd do 20-25 miles, depending on how my knee felt. About 3 seconds into it, about the time I got hit with the wind, I'd revised that down to 15. I squeezed out 10. Just. Barely. In a 'hmm, I'm done but if I go around the cemetary once it'll be 10' kind of way.
There was one glorious mile that was fast and easy, a different stretch of road I hadn't tried before but it looked flat, so went down to escape the torturous hills. I went until I reached a hill then turned around... and desperately downshifted as fast as possible, because I could barely move forward. I'd forgotten about the f%^&%ng wind. How it is possible for anyone with an IQ great than that of, say, a slug, could forget the previous 8 miles of torture, I don't know. But I did. Apparently this little stretch was at the perfect angle for a tailwind, and I should have freaking known better (I dabble in sailing, I know how the wind can fool you when you're with it). So the last mile back to my van, the mile my little brain fart had made me think would be fast and easy, was yet another torturous grind. And for good measure, I was parked at the top of a moderate hill, which I barely made it up in my very, very, very very lowest gear.
I'm happy I went. My knee feels surprisingly good, I'm getting the hang of the new pedal system (which is to say most of the time I can get my right foot out on the first try), my new shoes showed me what it's like to ride a bike without feeling like there's a vise on my feet, and most importantly I made myself work hard. Today's route is very similar to the Dansking bike course, so as a bonus I got a major wake-up call about how unprepared I am to tackle again it in just two short months.
But I don't care, for my next ride I'm holding out for a less windy day.
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