The joys of lack of training resulted in an ugly second straight ride – after yesterday’s longer 30+ mile jaunt. Whereas my legs produced no pain yesterday (only lack of power), today they screamed in agony and refused several times to even pedal the bike.
As I’ve stated in past posts, I’m not getting a steady series of rides this year to keep a solid base. Instead, I have been riding in spurts – where I may have two or three straight days worth of riding and then go a full week before getting on the bike again.
It’s no way to improve my performance and both the numbers and general feeling show the outcome.
But, I should not complain. Any day on a bike is a good day – especially with our recent weather. Spring is actually behaving like spring with abundant sunshine, gentle breezes and warm(er) air. It hasn’t been hot by any stretch, but it has been warm enough to allow for me to focus less on the clothing choices and more on the ride.
I am still enjoying my new cycling shoes and am glad I made the purchase. I am also glad that I bought the extra insoles with arch support tailored to my foot. It is something that I wouldn’t have known would improve the ride – because the standard shoes would have felt similar to my old ones. But the extra support really means that I feel my entire foot have contact with the shoe (and ultimately the bike). This translates into great comfort and feel throughout the ride. Plus, the shoes are significantly lighter than my old pair which yields another noticeable difference.
In terms of the performance for today’s ride; I had a nice jaunt going at the beginning of the ride. That was largely due to an atypical eastern wind at my back. Unfortunately, my route was primarily a straight east and straight west loop, which meant that the second half of the ride was into the wind. Although gentle (less than 10mph), it was still enough to hurt. Combine that with my fatigued legs and it was not an enjoyable part of the ride.
I can only hope that today’s pain will result in tomorrow’s dividends. It is the curse of a cyclist – where your only path to enjoyable performance is marked with painful pedal strokes.
