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May 13, 2008
Sweet Sunshine!
Well, after what seemed like 3 weeks in a row of rain, today dawned sunny and bright and absolutely beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky! (And yes, I ran in the rain AGAIN yesterday. And no, my running shoes still aren't dry.)
I had a swim this morning but this afternoon was my opportunity to get outside to enjoy the awesome weather - a ride! YIPPPPEEEE!! I got home and got changed and ready to go pretty quickly (I'm quite notorious for taking FOREVER to get going on workouts after work...). And off I went. And it was amazing! Maybe 60 degrees, not much wind. Ahhhh....
I also took the opportunity to try out my new aerohelmet today, mostly because I wanted to ride at least 1 hour in it before I raced in it on Sunday. And today was my last ride over 1 hour before Sunday. So today it was! I felt like a huge weirdo with it on, riding around town during the busiest time of the day (rush hour!) but in all honestly nobody probably even noticed. I'm glad I did it too because now I know that things sound different in there (it was loud!)! And I actually like it a little better than my usual helmet because it sits back a little farther on my head and I don't have to crane my neck so much down in my aerobars. Heck, I might just wear it ALL the time now (yeah, not so much... :)
Anyway, I was glad I had A helmet on (any helmet would do) because I almost crashed on my ride! No mom, not the kind of crash where you are life-flighted to Allegheny General Hospital and are unconcious. Don't worry! :)
But rather the kind of crash where you are trying to get started up your back alley and you can't get your foot clipped in the dang left pedal!! For some mysterious reason I was in THE biggest gear available on my bike and therefore there was no way just my right leg was going to handle pedaling by itself UP the alley (I might have had a fighting chance if it was downhill...). And my darn left foot could not, for the life of it, get into it's pedal. And the bike was going slower and slower and slower and...well...you know the rest of the story. But luckily I ripped my right foot out of it's pedal at the last milisecond (and I mean VERY LAST milisecond) to steady myself before I toppled over in a heap of aerohelmet, unruly pedals and cycling shoes! ARGHH!!! You would think that I would be past this stage of cycling newness but I'm not. And if I had to guess, I would say this same very thing could happen in 5 years, 10 years, heck, even 15 years from now. Coordination and grace were never my strong points. :)
So that's my story for today. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain again. But that's okay because O just planted some new grass in our yard and if it rains we won't have to water it! (see, there is a positive spin on everything!) Have a great night everyone!
Posted by beth at May 13, 2008 8:30 PM
Comments
Hee hee....I love it when we are "practicing" in our aero stuff...the neighbors already think we are NUTS...and then we roll around on discs and aero sexy helmets! :) Good luck to you this weekend!! :)
Posted by: Jennifer Harrison at May 13, 2008 9:29 PM
I have that problem ALL the time. I first noticed it during my one and only TT race. I started in WAY too hard a gear and then stumbled when they let go of my seat post. Now I'm trying to make myself downshift into an easier gear when I stop at traffic lights so I'm not in a huge gear when I start up again. You would think I would start to remember....
I can't wait to see your new helmet!
Posted by: Audrey at May 14, 2008 12:00 AM
I fell off my bike the same way recently - and didn't catch myself. And the neighbor was outside. Enjoy that gorgeous weather Beth!
Posted by: rachel at May 14, 2008 1:03 PM
Eeks! That must have been funny - at least you didn't have an audience. Like I did a few years ago when I was biking somewhere in downtown St. Paul. I had my running shoes in bike pedal cadges on an old road bike, and my shoe string got caught in the cage. Before I knew it, I fell over sideways right infront of rush hour downtown traffic and the construction crew working on the light. I was mortified!But I'll never forget that moment... :)
SO yes - we ALL do that. Hope that you and the bike are okay!
Posted by: marit c-l at May 14, 2008 1:27 PM