cycloblogging #2: yes, you _should_ bring that water bottle…
Ok, so I went basically the same ~2.5 mile neighborhood circuit I rode yesterday, with minor modifications (a right turn instead of a left at the bottom of the hill, and a straight shot up mannakee). About 75 degrees out, beautiful clear sky. I’m a little more comfortable with being on the bike and a little more comfortable with the handling and balance today, a lot less wobbling and skating across lanes and such, and I’ve got a better feel for the braking profile of the bike with me on it.
I had four stops and one walking section, which is about the same as I did yesterday. Stop at the corner of mannakee and carr, then again around the corner of nelson and crocus to catch my breath and prepare for the big hills. Third stop was at the bottom of the hill at nelson and college parkway, and the last one was when I realized halfway up that I wasn’t ready to go up the hill to my house without walking. On the second stop, more than halfway done, I drank almost the entire water bottle I brought with me. This is going to be a long road.
So here’s my current goals, in order of term:
(1) get more comfortable with up and down-shifting in-flight.
(2) find someplace that’s much more relatively flat to ride
(3) do that 2.5 mile neighborhood circuit without stops (given the hills, this is actually pretty challenging).
(4) rockville millennium trail circuit (~12 miles)
(5) 20 miles
My real goal is to achieve at least the first 4 by the end of 2009. I’ve got half a year to ramp up and do it… and realistically probably more like now until october-ish… so probably 5 months?
Nice thing is with a circuit this short, after the tiredness and thirst go away I’ve only got a little residual soreness, which doesn’t really impair me all that much the rest of the day…