Good morning!
Well it's Thursday and that means the week is almost over (finally) and this morning was a bike day. I have to say that I've been surprised how dark the last couple of morning have been. Are the days really getting shorter already!? When I started out riding early in the mornings it seemed like I was hopping on the bike as the sun rose. Lately it's like I'm riding at nine o'clock in the evening it's so dark. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to become a problem in the near future since my buddy rider is new to riding on roads and the more light we have the better he feels which translates into farther rides for us. I might have to invest in a bike light and reflective tape or something.
Since it's been so dark in the morning the normal 11.5 mile route wasn't an option. Three quarters of it consists of country roads and no street lights. Also with it's twists and turns and big hills there is a very limited visibility factor to account for. No sense in getting killed over a bike ride. I wanted to complete at least ten miles today so off to google maps I went. On a side note I've come to love google maps for planning out rides and runs; gotta love technology. Usually I stay north of the city to avoid horrible morning traffic, but today I ventured farther south into the city. I had planned the route to run through some neighborhoods and avoid "main drags" and the heavier traffic. Since my route took me through neighborhoods I had written the key turns on a note card to get through the route. This seemed to work out all right except where do you put it?
The pocket on the back of my riding shirt is too big and retrieving it was cumbersome. I finally settled on sliding it under the band on the leg of my bike shorts. This worked but came with problems too. Sweating and humidity in the air made the crisp note card soft and more difficult to place on my leg as the ride went on. So while trying to ride with on hand hold the band up on my leg with two fingers place the card with three fingers and not swerve and wreck was pretty tricky. It was humorous though when making our way
back home because the largest "main drag" road we had to ride was horribly busy. It was about ten till six in the morning and the rush was on. So opting for the sidewalk we took off. I use the word "sidewalk" loosely because it was more of a broken asphalt trail with grass and weeds running all over it. Not something a road bike is built for. My buddy who is riding a hybrid bike is doing great, but with every pot hole and one inch crack I was just waiting for them to swallow my tire and throw me over the handle bars. I was ready to get back on the road and take my chances with the cars! Speaking of cars they were flying buy so fast that even on the sidewalk I felt like a squirrel in the middle of rush hour traffic; LOUD NOISES!! (Thank you Brick Tamland).
So in what's becoming a regularity during our morning bike rides, this mornings ride was no different. Which is ok because I'm quickly realizing that in order for a sustainable workout plan it has to be routine without being "routine". Go ahead and ponder that today and see what you can change in your own routine.
Route Stats:
Activity - Biking
Time - 50m:29s
Distance - 10.71 miles
Average speed - 12.7 mi/hr
Total climb - 128 yards
Lessons Learned:
If writing your route down to jog your memory have a plan to store it somewhere more easily accessible than wedging it into the legs of your shorts!
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