Room for Improvement

We had talked about doing an Easter Sunday ride for a few days; it depended whether or not the skies would cooperate. As it turns out, Easter was pretty gorgeous, with highs in the low 80s but winds up to 20 or 25 mph. We had been itching to ride for quite awhile and Bret felt like he was definitely well enough to be able to. One of the things we wanted to accomplish on our ride was being able to use our bike computers. Since our previous rides lacked that vital piece of cycling informational technology, it was difficult for me to know what things I needed to improve upon.

When we first started our ride, the headwinds were just intense and made pedaling tough for me. Cadence was absolutely horrible. My left knee was also bugging me quite a bit and I realized that soon into the trip, I already needed to rest it. One and a quarter miles into the ride and average speed of 13.4 mph, we rested at Bentley Park in Bixby; it had the coolest playground for Liam to play on. While Li was playing, I kept trying to decide whether or not I could finish the ride. Stopping so early in the ride made me feel like an utter failure...but at the same time, I didn't want to aggravate my knee even more and cause even greater problems for me. Liam had an absolute blast playing and I was thrilled that he was able to so. One part of the play structure has a very tall twisty slide (about 20-25 feet tall) and I knew that Liam would love to climb up the stairs so he can go down. The stairs are incredibly safe and protected on all sides. I slowly climbed the stairs with Liam and smiled as he was going down. I thought to myself, "If you can't beat him, join him" and followed him down the slide. The picture to the right is Liam's typical face when he sees something that he is absolutely surprised by.

An hour later, we started up our ride again. I hate thinking of myself as a quitter and since I was dying to find out what riding figures I needed to improve, I wanted to continue, I needed to continue. Very soon into the start of our second phase of the ride, we were passing two teenage boys enjoying the weather. One of the boys started to jog with us and kindly asked us where we were going. "California," I joked. This made the boy instantly stop and I realized that he thought I was serious. "Too far for my blood," he replied. The headwinds were incredibly strong again but I didn't want to stop...again. I was angry that the average speed at this time was only about 7-8mph. I pushed myself harder and I was able to maintain a speed of 13-14 miles per hour for quite awhile. I was still a little unhappy with this number but since this was only the first day of using the computer, I knew that there was huge room to increase those numbers.

On 151st Street between Memorial and Sheridan there is a rather steep hill. Bret was able to glide up the hill without any problems, or so it seemed while watching him, but I didn't feel like I was strong enough to ride up it so unfortunately, I walked most of the way up. I grumbled to myself all the way up and unfortunately, yet again, I felt like a failure. When I was able to get back on the bike, I was happy with myself. We turned right onto another street into some easier crosswinds but there was another intense hill; I knew that I just couldn't make it so I told Bret that I wouldn't be able to manage it. We turned back around and went down that steep hill. As I have mentioned in a previous entry, I am currently a wuss when it comes to steeper downgrades, so I rode the brake a little bit. I managed to get 18mph. Hopefully in the future, I won't be as afraid to take those hills. (I had later asked Bret what his maximum speed was going down this hill: His computer read 30.1).

We decided it was best for us to ride back into town where it was flatter and wouldn't cause me so many complications. On the straightaways and not as much wind, I was able to ride between 13-15.5 mph. When the headwinds were intense, I could only manage about 9 or 10, 11 when I was really pushing it.

One of the things I was happy about was being able to grab my water bottle from its cage, drink, and then put the bottle back while the bike was still in motion. That is something I had never been able to do. I guess I was too much of a chicken shit or something like that. Anyway, I was able to do this several times during the ride. I bet that Bret must have thought I was a goofball for being so happy about this. He did make me feel better by stating that when he first started cycling, he wasn't able to do this. I am really glad that I don't have to keep stopping every little time I want something to drink and not having to pull over to stop is rather inefficient plus a major pain in my ass.

I guess even though my numbers were a lot more dismal than I would have imagined, I am a little proud of myself. Even though I had to stop riding for an hour to calm my knee, I was glad that I was get back on. If you fall of a horse, you're supposed to get back on, right? With that reasoning, it even rings true for falling off a bicycle. I know that technically, I didn't "fall off", so I need to keep going, eh? I am glad that I have the computer to tell me how much I suck, but it also tells me how much I need do to get better. Keeping track of my numbers in correlation to the weather report for that particular date, will immensely help me progress into being the rider that I am trying to become. I have just shy of two months left before I ride in the Tulsa Tough; I figure that being able to see my cycling progress will definitely help me while riding. I am also hoping to be able to ride the hills instead of walking up them. I know that I am going to get better riding in wind. I am desperately waiting for the next ride so I can increase my numbers, my cadence, and help ease my hatred of Oklahoma winds.