It's Just Like Riding A Bike

So, today was the big day! Last night I finally got around to putting my pedals back on my bike and pumping up the tires. I never did take my bike to Toga to have them give it a tune-up. I definitely still need to do this, though. It'll just have to wait a week, which isn't the end of the world.

This morning I ate, got dressed and headed out to see how the elbow would hold up on the bike. I got on the bike and nervously rode to the Park. So far, so good. As soon as I got into the Park, a squirrel ran in front of me and as I was braking, I was thinking to myself that I might get into another crash in less than 10 minutes of riding and then I might never get onto a bike again. Except the squirrel changed his mind and instead of continuing to run toward my bike tire, he turned around and ran back to where he came from. Whew.

I knew that I didn't want to be crazy and ridiculous, so I figured I'd do one loop and see how I felt. After doing that first loop, I felt great! I actually thought I had finished pretty fast, which was a good feeling. I figured that I might as well just keep on going at that point. I decided not to do the Harlem Hill a second time (wimpy, I know). Although those rollers coming down the West Side have never been my friend and they weren't today either.

All throughout the ride, I kept feeling my left elbow and moving it to make sure it was doing okay. Of course, my right elbow (the not broken one), in true fashion, decided to start hurting. This isn't anything new on the bike. I actually think that I might have figured out the problem today since I was paying so much attention to both of my elbows. I think I'm locking my right elbow on the bike and then when I go to move it (to get a drink, for instance) it's really stiff and tight. I don't have any solutions for this right now, so if someone else does, speak up!

So, I was trying to figure out what I think about these triathlons I've got coming up. New York still seems like a possibility to me. Doing double today's ride seems like it's doable. It's Timberman that I just can't say for certain. Doing five times today's ride seems like a whole other beast ... one that I'm not sure I can tackle in 9 weeks. Not to mention tacking a half-marathon on at the end!

I'll be away this weekend, so I'll lose a couple of days biking there, but I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate and let me get some longer rides in next week and weekend. No matter what, I'm so happy that today's ride was good. Even better than good, really! Today was my fastest ride in a long time ... maybe ever? Which isn't saying a whole lot about my cycling skills as a whole, but it's still enough to make me happy!

Biking
Time: 46:01
Distance: 11.73 miles in the Park (13.76 total)
Pace: 15.29 MPH
Calories: 372
Maximum HR: 171 (81%)
Average HR: 154 (73%)