Sunday, August 12, 2007

BikeItUP!!! Back on the road


Cycling and I - took a left turn 20 years ago. Sure, there were times when I would pop back on. The town grew and traffic increased. It just got too dangerous.

I also got tired of "flats" - there is nothing worse than getting yourself geared up, dressed up, and out the door for the workout. You pump the tires up to about 140 psi and the....poooooooossssssshhhh!

You get off - in your silly shoes by the side of the road and either throw in a new tube or do a quick patch job. Then, you use the hand pump which MAY get you up to 100 psi with a herculean effort. You end up riding the rest of the way feeling like you are on low air.

But now - I am not going to worry about it. I have a 4 mile loop around my house. The traffic is light. All of the turns are right handed so there are no roads to cross. If I flat on one of the laps, I can probably limp it home and fix it at my house. If not, I also got some handy, dandy Co2 cartridges which should give me 125 psi out on the road.....suuuhhhweeeet.

I thought I would go out and blaze 3 or maybe 4 laps today - well, after 2 laps I thought that I better not push the condition of my seat...plus I had already rode 3 miles on the mountain bike this morning.

Boy...not even 50 - and struggling with a 10 mile ride! It's a long way....and about 25 pounds....from the days of blazing out for 30 miles in an hour and a half. Still, even when I first started way back then, I don't think I averaged more than 16.3 mph as I did today. I think the speed curve is going to go up rapidly with a little more time in the saddle.

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