Pedal to the Metal
It’s been a long time since I ‘pedaled in anger’ as Phil Liggett would say. I got on the bike in the cool of the morning and rode for thirty minutes putting 8.5 miles on this year’s cycling log. I looked at my historical cycling logs and see that I really stopped biking in 2009. In 2009, I put in 500 miles. In 2010, it was just 22 miles. In 2011, only 32 miles. Mileage went up to 65 miles for 2012, but last year it was just 13 miles. So far, 8.5 miles is a start. Hopefully, those will be only the beginning and not the end.
I’m riding my bike, because rowing has caused some issues with my shoulder and elbow. Lately, I can’t row as hard or my elbow begins to ache with overuse, and my shoulder feels funny. Lifting my left arm up feels awkward. So, I need to give rowing a rest. Although, I thought that it would help in my cycling, but as much as I can tell, I still feel slow on the bike. I do feel that my cardiovascular system is functioning better than it would as I wasn’t too much out of breath. I currently don’t have the cycling legs. They need another 100 miles to feel right.
But I looked the part. The weather was about mid-50s, so I dug out the knickers and the jacket. Because I am now under 200 lbs, they fit better like they used to back in 2009. One thing I noticed which I had forgot is that these knickers don’t fit me well. When I am in the saddle, the padding rids up in front of my crotch barely doing its job which is to pad my buttocks in the saddle. I have to pull the back up just to get the padding to slide onto the saddle. The jacket fits except for the neck being tight, but that’s because I am still 10 lbs too heavy for it.
My prescription eyewear is the safety glasses I bought several years ago. The shoes fit perfect although I wish I had toe covers on. They don’t fit perfect to the pedals as my left foot feels too far forward on the pedal. I’ll make an adjustment to get a better fitment.
The bike rides okay. I feel too low in the saddle. Might adjust the height although I know that if it is too tall then my knees begin to ache. The stem I put on it is now too long, because I dropped it down 2 notches in height. I may revert to the old stem or bring it up a notch.
The route was short and the roads were brutal. Winter messed things up.
I’m looking forward to more cycling.
