Wed
17.6 miles
1:10:27
Thur
39.6 miles
3:04:09
Wednesday's ride - Getting the seat height and position dialed in. I angled the seat down a bit. When I am on the hoods and riding with a straight back, the front point of the seat is a bit too "familiar" with my man parts. Still need to drop the angle a bit more. Getting used to the new saddle though. Not as painful of a ride. Shoes felt fine. Bike is starting to creak more. I think some of what I am hearing is the new pedals. Maybe I need to add some anti-seize to the threads or something? I realized that one way to cancel out the noise is to ride faster! The wind makes some of the creaks go away...
Thursday's ride - Feet hurt. Not sure why either. I am going to try a minor adjustment to the clips before my next ride. Had an equipment malfunction too. My clips on the left shoe went loose while I was climbing the hardest section of the Ravenel Bridge. I fixed it at the top which gave me time for a couple of nice pics. This ride was not fun at all. I started to feel weird around mile 20. Something like heat exhaustion but it wasn't particularly hot out. I felt like I stayed hydrated enough but I didn't eat much. Next long ride I will bring more food with me and try to eat earlier. Also, I got hit by a car for the first time! It was actually pretty awesome and completely my fault. It happened at mile 19 or so. There was an SUV at a light with their right blinker on. I tried passing on the right. The car didn't see me and turned right into my left thigh. I grabbed the car's fender and went for a ride. Hilarious. Basically, I had completely zoned out. When I get to a place where I start to hurt or become stressed, I sometimes deal with it by disassociating my mind from the realities of the world around me. That works great for things like ignoring pain and pushing through tough conditions. However, it is a terrible strategy for other important items like recognizing traffic patterns!
I need to have a thorough bike fit. I feel like the bike is too far away when I am on the hoods. I like having my hands about an inch or two behind the them. Maybe it's just me but I feel like it's a bit too big. My feet really hurt on the 40 mile ride. Felt like they were going numb or something. I will try loosening them as I go. Maybe they are swelling?
Key learning since last post:
- Eat and drink earlier during big rides. I think I need to begin eating at my first hour or possibly even a little earlier if it is sunny out. More sun means more water.
- Take breaks in the shade or air conditioning of a gas station when it is sunny. I tried to power through on my last 40 miler but with the sun out, I think I needed to cool my body down.
- Ensure your shoe clips are fully tightened. Duh. This goes for other critical pieces of equipment like your seat too.
- Pay attention when you are in higher traffic areas! That sounds really simple but when I get tired, I zone out. Unacceptable. You have to snap out of it and pay attention.
Took Friday off. Going for an epic ride on Saturday!
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