This morning I set out to ride my bike again. Last weekend was rainy and I usually avoid riding in the rain. I’ve done it before and not a fan. So I took my faithful bike out again, put on all my gear- bike shoes, helmet, and sunglasses- and set out. On Saturdays its best to start as early as you can. Usually before 7am but I was lazy and didn’t start until 7:30 ish. The reason for this is of course the traffic is usually low, but you have to get out before the garage salers do. It gets pretty scary out there and I have another post featuring garage sales that I’m going to put up after this one.
The weather isn’t too hot yet, but a morning starting off in the 80s is still hot. My goal today is 8 miles. It’s pretty aggressive since my last ride was only 4 miles and because of my foot problem, but what can I say? I’m a Dodie on the edge. I decided I’m not letting the injury control me. So I clipped into my pedals and took off, enjoying the wind in my face. There weren’t too many people out yet, no dogs running lose and just one garage sale set up so far. Score! I have a four file loop that I mapped out years ago, so to accomplish 8, I will have to do two loops. I rode the first loop pretty aggressively. I don’t have my bicycle computer on today because its new and I’m still trying to figure the darn thing out.
The first part of the loop isn’t bad and its lots of fun. Most of it is downhill and there’s one hill that you can get up to 20 miles an hour going down it. But what? Wait…It’s a loop soo….yep you guessed it. At some point I have to go up this beast. After many rides in the hills, these hills are really just inclines, but after a year and a half of not riding, it’s back to hill status for now.
I was getting tired by the end of the first loop and decided to take a quick break at my house. I drank some water and watched as people starting waking up and coming out of their homes , groggily thinking about their outside chores for the morning. In the background, on another street, I heard a lawnmower fire up. Another thing about Saturdays is if you are plagued with allergies, you also want to getup before the lawnmowers. After my rest I decided to take the second lap at a leisurely pace. The idea is just to get through it. People were now walking around so I said, “Good Morning” to about five people. I was at the last corner when a truck came around and waved at me. I love this because they are both saying hi and that they have acknowledged they saw you. Usually these people are fellow cyclists or motercyclists because they understand how important it is to be watchful.
Finally, I turned down my street and a big truck was heading my way, but across the street the people had their dog out. Waring! Dog alert. Dogs are sweet but they are dangerous to cyclists. The truck driver was watching the dog and not me, but I was able to slip by unscathed.
Now I’m sitting here writing this blog with my foot propped up in its brace. It’s been on for 45 minutes. I figure I need to give it some extra time to stretch out since I pushed it pretty hard. Hopefully my foot will be ok and I can ride again soon. Please be careful when driving around, and look for the cyclists and watch your dogs. especially if they are a greyhound. LOL It’s impossible to out run them to get away and all you can do it stop and hope they will lick your face. This happened to us once. We thought, hmmm this has never happened before. Guess we can’t outrun it. So we stopped. Did they lick or bite? That’s another story.
Until next post! Have a good week!
