Yesterday, I swam (finally). I only went for about 10 minutes (pathetic), but I completed 10 laps total, or 500 meters. I did the first 7 1/2 laps without stopping to get my time. It was 7 1/2 minutes. Hm. Ok so, a minute per lap. That's easy enough.
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My brother got me a birthday gift (a little late... but it's the thought that counts). So what started as a non-training related gift turned into a training-related gift as soon as I saw it was an electronic gift card to Amazon.com. My mind raced with possibilities.
So after days of scowering the internet looking for the perfect birthday present for myself, I decided on a cheap cyclocomputer and a sports watch.
The Schwinn 17-Function Bike Computer:
And the Sneakers Surf and Sport Digi-glo Watch:
Perfect.___________________________________
When I got off work on Monday, I had a letter waiting for me.
I opened it to find this post-it:
"Hi Kelly,
This came out the same time you got your new love so I thought I should send it to you. Tell me if Giant likes its picture. Be sure it sees it.
Grandpa"
I laughed but was a little confused.... Until I opened the newspaper clipping:
It was an ad for Giant bicycles:
I got a total kick out of this.
But when I showed the ad to my bike, I think it shattered her self image a little bit. But I sat her down and reassured her that there may be other bikes out there that try to imitate her, but she'll always be very unique to me.
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I woke up this morning after a short night's sleep and was very excited about my long ride. I've been wanting to go on a good 20-mile bike ride for some time now.
So I plotted out the course (which was on a bike path a few miles away) and packed up my car.
I always hate strapping my bike to the bike rack. It's all just way too far out of my hands. What if someone rear-ended me? What if the bike rack snapped and she fell onto the road? What if she was run over by a truck?
I look back into my rearview mirror every 20 seconds to make sure she's still okay. I can see the top of her seat peeking out over the spare tire:
I got to the path, got all set up, and began my ride. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the path is in a pretty open area, so I decided to ride with the wind to my back to begin with.
I started my ride somewhere near the halfway point on the trail. I went about 3 miles south before I hit the end of the bike path and turned back around.
But riding straight into that wind was harder than I thought it would be. To make things worse, the bike path was rather hilly. Going up against a hill and the wind at the same time was rough.
I took a lot of water breaks during the next 3 miles. Soon my water was gone.
As I coasted down a small hill towards where my car was parked, I knew I was done.
I had gone 6.1 miles in 30 minutes. It wasn't super hot, but I was tired and dehydrated (I started the morning dehydrated so that may have been one of the problems (note to self: drink more water)).
My bike was pretty sad. I told her we'd go for a really long ride some time soon.
30 minutes is pretty short for a bike ride, but there are those days where you realize it's just not gonna happen.
And in a moment of weakness on my way home, I made a little pit stop:
Not good.
Tomorrow will be better.
1 comment:
You are a sad excuse for a biker. But I love you. Now that you have purchased all of these accessories, what is left for me to buy?
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