Success!! Day 7
Weather: 68 deg F. muggy, sunshine
Time I left my house: Late! 8.07 am.
Time I arrived at work: 8:41 am
Distance: 8.34 miles
Avg. Speed: 14.2
Max Speed: 21.1
Time: 34 min.
Pre-game: Wife and kids are off for the summer (yes!) but still had some distractions. They woke up right when I was getting ready. So I had to entertain them, tell my 4-year old to get out of my 13-month old’s crib. Also, the panniers were set to go on the San Jose and I had trouble adjusting them to fit my Specialized Sequoia rack. After a few minutes of that and good-byes to my son, I was late but I was finally off.
No traffic due to the holiday (yes, we had to come in today… and no, our company doesn’t give us a floating holiday. So we’re all sitting here bitter as hell.) No traffic explains the faster time in. I saw a lot of club riders along the way- since it was such a nice day for a long ride. Nice to have a day off, yeah??
My first equipment failures- I should’ve been on top of them. My cleats on the right shoe wouldn’t clip in for the life of me the first mile- The Shimano 520 pedal was good on my left foot, but the foot I usually clip in and out of most—my right foot--- was not happening. After mile 3 I was getting concerned, but then it finally clipped. Of course, I hit a huge pothole which through my panniers completely off (apparently, one wasn’t clipped in) and I had to stop. I realized, I couldn’t clip out my right foot. I was circling a parking lot trying to throw my foot off of it. It was quite a scene. After some force, I did, but then I realized, one of the bolts came out and it was done. It’s sitting there on my right pedal right now—the cleat and its one bolt.
I still kept up a good average time, but man, it totally threw me off.
Two lessons to learn- always check your cleat bolts pre-game, especially the one you use the most. I was remiss, now I need another bolt. Hopefully, it didn’t strip the shoe attachment.
And
Give time to adjust your panniers. One bump can throw it off the rack, especially since you’re hauling 20 lbs of stuff.
It could’ve been a lot worse, I know. So I’ll take it.
UPDATE: The ride home.
Weather: 79 deg F. sunny and very muggy
Distance: 8.52 miles
Avg. Speed: 13.7
Max Speed: 23.4
Time: 37.13 min.
It was a nicer ride home from the lack of traffic. If only it was like this all the time. I did hit a huge pot hole coming down a hill on Ellison (one of the side streets) which knocked my Gatorade out of my drink cage and onto the street. Luckily the wheels and tires were OK and my full bottle of Gatorade was intact (wheels may need some truing, but I’m not sure I can assess that yet or have the eyes for it- fortunately I have free tune-ups for a year at the LBS.) It was a nice (and fast) ride home, albeit on one cleat. My wife was again surprised of the time I made coming home.
No comments:
Post a Comment