This Saturday brings another metric century ride - a ride benefiting the Cecil County College Scholarship Fund. The route is something like a figure 8 - it goes in a 30+ mile loop in one direction, meets back at the start, and then loops 30+ miles in another direction. Much of the first half of the route mimics the route I took for the Icicle Metric in March (the one that kicked my butt) so I'm really looking forward to seeing how I've improved in the last month.
I upgraded my bike to tackle hills, by changing my cassette (the rear gears) and derailleur. I rode yesterday and it made a big difference on the hills (not that I tackled major hills yesterday, but still...)
Next step - I want to see if I can move the clips on my bike shoes back a smidge - I think the pressure point on my foot is incorrectly placed, causing my toes to numb. If my foot hits the pedal slightly more forward, I think it will fix my problem. I have to check my shoes before Saturday and see if this is possible.
I'm really looking forward to Saturday's ride (minus the 7:30 am start time - ugh) and I hope it gives me a good gauge of my efforts to date.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Halfway there!
I RODE 50 MILES ON SATURDAY!! Now, granted, it was a completely flat ride, but the wind was KILLER! The headwind was so strong at one point, I was only going about 6 miles an hour into it. So it's kinda like a hill, right?
I had a breakdown at about mile 46, where I started crying, thinking that there was no way I could ever do 100 miles. But my friend talked me off the edge, and support from my coach and teammates after the ride made me feel better. Failure is not an option. I just have to keep that in my head.
I still need to figure out how to keep my toes from going numb. It's really become a problem, and I was forced to get off my bike more often than I thought I would, just to get the blood back into my toes. (Any suggestions - please let me know - and no, my shoes are not too tight - already fixed that by buying a size up) And my butt was pretty sore that night - but it didn't hurt so much the next day, so it's definitely progress.
Oh, and not only did I do 50 miles on Saturday, but I did another 20 on Friday, and the wind was just as bad (and it was colder)! So overall, I felt like I had a really great weekend!
I had a breakdown at about mile 46, where I started crying, thinking that there was no way I could ever do 100 miles. But my friend talked me off the edge, and support from my coach and teammates after the ride made me feel better. Failure is not an option. I just have to keep that in my head.
I still need to figure out how to keep my toes from going numb. It's really become a problem, and I was forced to get off my bike more often than I thought I would, just to get the blood back into my toes. (Any suggestions - please let me know - and no, my shoes are not too tight - already fixed that by buying a size up) And my butt was pretty sore that night - but it didn't hurt so much the next day, so it's definitely progress.
Oh, and not only did I do 50 miles on Saturday, but I did another 20 on Friday, and the wind was just as bad (and it was colder)! So overall, I felt like I had a really great weekend!
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