I finally got out on my bike this weekend for a short 'get to know you' ride. I rode with a friend, Dave, from my volunteer fire department who has done a few shorter triathlons so that I could feel a bit more comfortable. It was nice of Dave to ride with me but I could tell by 3 miles in that I might be a bit too fast for him. I don't know if he was holding back for me, but I found myself not peddling as much as I believe I should have been. Even getting into an easy gear and barely putting any pressure on the peddles at a high cadence led to me almost overtaking him. I'll ride with him again, but maybe I'll lead.
The ride was easier than I thought it would be. My legs seemed to be feeling good, my heart rate was low, and I felt I could push it a bit more. I started feeling tight in my neck, my lower back and my undercarriage started to get sore. My feet also fell asleep for a bit but that was not a huge deal. I enjoyed the ride. It was nice to get working out again. I definitely needed it.
I didn't get back out on the bike again until this evening. It's going to rain the next 2 days so I figured today was the best chance before Thursday. I was a bit nervous about getting out there on the roads during rush hour but I chose roads that weren't too busy. I did almost the same route as Saturdays ride except I started off heading into town so I could tackle a long gradual hill. I wanted to avoid a certain intersection so I elected to take a right up a VERY steep hill to cut through.
Bad. Decision.
I didn't think about the gear I was in and before I knew it I was coming to a grinding halt, unable to get my left shoe unclipped and was tipping over. I managed to unclip as I was falling and did a fantastic reverse somersault down the hill and back onto my feet. I tore some of the handlebar tape a bit, and some leaves got stuck in my left brake/shifter. I recovered, walked up the remainder of the hill and got back on my way. A mild abrasion on my left butt cheek and a scrape on my wrist.
I settled back into my ride and started chugging along. I was pushing it pretty hard per my heart rate. My Garmin was off a bit at the beginning and skewed my average heart rate. My breathing was difficult, but I think that was due to the high pollen count today. I ground through the ride and ended up riding 14 miles in about 47 minutes. I forgot to start my Garmin until I was about 1/4 mile in. Not a bad increase in speed from Saturdays ride. By the end of the workout I felt like I had really pushed it. My lungs were burning and I had that "I just worked my ass off" feeling. I haven't really worked these muscles in a long while so I'm expecting the first few rides to be tough.
Now where are those cookies?
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