Recovering From Saturday Night
There must be something in the water - like The ZappoMan, I had to force myself to get on the bike this morning to blow away some of last night’s cobwebs - in my case a little too much of that nice fizzy French wine, washed down with some other wine (hic!)
And also like the Zappoman, I was on duty to take children to a party this afternoon, so after rising late, there was no time for a 50 mile ride. Instead I headed inland via the route I took earlier this week to Newcastle, and then down the Scotswood Road to the tank factory, before heading home via Gateshead and Byker. Annoyingly enough, I’m certain that pretty much every single set of traffic lights I got to was on red . . . .
The ‘out’ leg of the journey was just great - averaging 19.8mph, and feeling indestructible. There had to be a reason for this, which I discovered at the turnaround point - that’d be a tailwind then!
Also for the three miles or so either side of the Scotswood bridge, it was raining. I was riding Gina - my SCR LTD road bike. The one that I came off during the Stratford Triathlon in the rain. No, I didn’t fall off this time (I’m not completely useless after all), but I did find the handling somewhat edgy in the wet - rear wheel prone to locking up under even very gentle braking (for those red lights), and even a little prone to skipping a little on cornering. I’m not sure if this is a factor of the frame geometry (can’t see how, but what do I know?), or the tyres . . .
. . . but to be on the safe side, I picked up a new pair of 700×23 Specialized Pro All Condition Armadillos from the Edinburgh Bike Coop’s 15% off sale (ended today), while I was dropping Gina off for her six-weeks’ tune-up (a little late, but who’s counting?) this afternoon.
So with the headwind on the way back, my average dropped to 17.5mph, but this is nothing to get stressed about on such a great day. After all, while I was topping up on fuel on the Swingbridge, the Gateshead Millenium Bridge opened to let a boat pass. Now that’s a sight worth seeing - one of my Three Beautiful Things for today, though I’ll keep the others to myself!
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 06/24/2007
- Total Time: 1:54:00.00
- Distance: 33.25 miles
- Average Speed: 17.5 mph
- Max Speed: 32 mph
- Average Cadence: 98
- Max Cadence: 130
Okay, I think I am the only cyclist on this site with only one bike, well I suppose I have two if you count my spin bike. My bikes don’t have cute names, like Trixxie and Gina. My poor LeMond bike is feeling neglected I’m sure because she still has gu stuck on her from my last triathlon number! My spin bike has a little rust on the wheel. Prehaps I should call the bike Trusty Rusty, because he’s always there hanging out in the rec room, waiting for me to ride him.
In case you don’t see my post on Zappo’s site, definitely see if you can get your hands on a bottle of “Broadbent Vinho Verde next time you want a fizzy white. Sure, its no champagne, but its a great summer wine. (just stay off your bike while drinking
As for Lisa’s comment about only having one bike… I am seriously considering picking up a fourth bike… What? That’s crazy right?
Well… let’s see… Today’s list includes…
1 fixie (you know you want one if you don’t have one)
1 Mountainbike/Hybrid Good for pulling the kids around, but I’ll admit, this one is the least used
1 roadbike - Carbon Frame, etc… the basic race/roadster
Notice I don’t own a true triathlon bike… I think I might need to get one… Right?
Lisa - Remember this is a ‘family friendly’ blog!
Brad - Excellent idea. I’ll then have a pre-planned excuse for No. 4 too:
“But honey I know it’s a lot of money, but The ZappoMan made me do it. . . ”
I don’t have a triathlon bike either - but after talking Lisa into letting me buy the Harley, I don’t think I’m going to try pushing my luck…