First Official Training Bike Ride...
My back wheel came off when I braked on that first ride before this one. It wasn't fastened correctly.
Before this ride, I had to prepare my bike. I changed my wheel sets to training wheels and ensured all wheels were tightened.
I then had to find all my old gear to put on the bike in case I had a flat: my rear gear bag, tool set, extra tubes, compressed air to inflate my tires if I get a flat, my rear flashing light for safety, and a bag on my crossbar to put nutrition, batteries in my cateye to keep track of speed and cadence.
The funny thing is that the bag for the crossbar still had gels in it, with an expiration date of 2013, that I had to throw away.
It was a hot day, and the humidity was over 33 degrees Celsius. It's not necessarily the best temperature for my first official training ride, but I like the heat—or at least I did. I loved running and cycling in heat, even much hotter than today.
I waited until 5 p.m. to get out and ride, which was not necessarily the best time. Traffic was heavy, with people coming home. Mental note: Do it early in the morning or after 6:30 p.m. to avoid traffic.
Before the ride, I was feeling low energy, which I attribute to my low-calorie diet, so I deviated and had a baked potato and cottage cheese before giving me some carbs before the ride. After the ride, I had a banana.
The ride was brutal. It was to be one hour, and the most I could do was 53 minutes. It wasn't so much from my fitness level. My legs and cardio were holding up. It's not great, but it's holding.
The challenge was my sore neck from holding my head up as I rode. I had to stop several times to stand over my bike to rest my neck. I think back to my old 7-hour rides and never had this problem, and now, at the 30-minute point, my neck was in pain.
Another issue was that my sweat was so salty that it got in my eyes, making it tough to see, so I constantly had to wipe them.
I was also a little shaky on the bike; my arms were sore from both yesterday's swim and as the ride went on. I tried to get my water bottle to drink, and it seemed much lower than I remember. I felt unstable as I had to reach down to get it, and more so when I had to put it back. Without looking, it was hard to put it in its right place. Again, in the past, I was on autopilot, getting it out and putting it back unconsciously.
The worst part was when I got home, which I was spent. I wasn't bonking, but I was exhausted, my neck hurt, and I'm sure the heat was a factor. Even lying down, my heart rate was 103 beats per minute, and I couldn't stop sweating. I took my blood pressure, and it was 96 over 60, and my stomach was so protruding from the ride; not sure why, but I couldn't even do up my belt on my shorts, which was on its last loop, so I had no option but to remove the belt.
I can't tell you how bad I felt. It took at least two hours and another hour snoozing on the couch to feel semi-okay. Even as I write this, I'm still spent. Even after 7-hour rides and a 30-minute brick run afterward in the past, I never felt this bad.
Another sign is that I'm no spring chicken. My mind is young, but my body is in much worse shape than I thought it was.
Bike - 53:03 - 18.88 km - 21.4 km avg pace.
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