This was my first organized ride/race on a bike. Since I am new to outdoor riding for anything besides recreation, I figured this would be good preparation for Goldilocks next month since I want to ride a longer length in that race.
I didn't expect the weather - it rained for the whole ride & most of the morning, but it made for an interesting first experience. I definitely won't forget it. And, the next experience can only get better, right?
So here, in no particular order are a few of my observations about my first organized bike tour.
1. When you are really cold, there is no state of "flow." Cool = flow. Cold = numbness.
Flow is that point during exercise when your body enters it's energy cycle & you feel really good. You don't always get completely there, but you do usually have some point where you feel that the energy put in to exercise is less than what you are pumping out.
When it is raining and you are soaked to the bone, there is no flow. That's not really rocket science, but I didn't expect that point of numbness to be a similar experience. Discomfort in lower back & saddle - gone. Cold toes - gone. There is nothing there. Hooray!
Unfortunately for me, the numbness didn't kick in until mile 24.5 of a 25 mile race. Just when I was thinking, "Oh, good. Now I can really focus for these last few miles," we rounded the corner and there was the park. Stink. Maybe I need a bike computer so I know how far I have actually gone.
2. When everything is rainy & gray, neon pink arm & hand warmers are a really happy sight. They were new since I did plan on it being cold at 5:45 a.m. So I wasn't used to the sight of them. Whenever it got raining really hard, I would have to duck my head a bit so that the rain wasn't coming straight at my face, and there was that bright flash of pink to make me smile.
3. People who get up at 5:00 am for a 6:00 am start on a cold, rainy Saturday morning when they could otherwise be sleeping in are crazy. A good kind of crazy. I think. But there were lots of smiles and happy people despite the weather.
4. The Salt Lake Bike Tour passes every high school on the east side of the valley. There are approximately 56 of them, because I saw more than one each mile. They only passed one church that I counted. How is that possible? Just tell me, how?
5. Did I mention that neon pink arm warmers are happy? It must be raining harder again.
6. When it rains really hard, your helmet drips.
7. I really like the green bikes that can be rented downtown. They are lime green cruisers with baskets and bells.
A whole group of cyclists was riding these. I don't know if they rented them so that they could ride together, or if they were sponsored as a way of getting the word out about the bikes, but it was pretty cool. And I liked hearing the bells. Ring, ring.
I want to know how they did (because I sure wouldn't want to go uphills with a 3-speed bike, or whatever they are) but they are cool.
8. Besides being cold, riding in the rain is messy. My bike was muddy, my hands were muddy, my feet were muddy. My arms & jacket sleeves were pink, where my new neon pink arm warmers bled onto them. Did I mention that I really liked them?
I think cleaning my clothes & shoes & bike took as long as the ride itself. (Sorry about that hotel hand towel that was white before I used it.)
9. Your ego will be slightly bruised when you are passed by someone twice your age.
I thought I had checked my ego at the door, but apparently I had a little left when I was passed around 6200 South by someone who was maybe my dad's age. I didn't mind so much when he passed me; he was obviously in very good shape and very experienced. He gave me some good motivation to speed up and stay near him. That was good, since I realized at that point that I had settled in and wasn't pushing. There isn't time to settle in a 25 mile ride.
However, then I was passed by someone who was twice my age. Like, he probably had 10 years on my dad. Really?
There are some awesome older gentlemen out there who are amazingly fit, and I know this, so normally, I don't think this would have bothered me. But apparently when I am cold and wet (and it happens not once, but twice), it does.
10. I love to ride my bicycle.
Even the rain didn't dampen my spirits. The frustrating 3-year-old after the race, maybe. But the rain, no. When I was looking at cycling gear recently, I came a cross some of those gore-tex shoe cover things that keep your feet warm and dry. At the time, I thought, "Pshaw, right. I WON'T be riding in weather like that." Now, however I am not so sure. I might need a pair of those things.
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