Back in the saddle again

Lame title, but true.

10 pounds of winter weight gain can really make that blasted spandex feel awful, okay spandex is always awful, but c'mon I'm trying.

The weather has been so beautiful this month that I've gotten out riding my bike ~3-4 times a week. Our weather has been fantastic; blue, clear, skies have been happening about um 3-4 times a week. See any pattern to my riding preferences (cool and sunny rules!)? Last year at this time we were driving back from California in the snow and furious rain.

Monday I rode with a really nice group over the bridge to Portlandia and east up the Gorge. The view was spectacular, but the head and crosswinds were practically blowing us over. Combining that with the element of "urban flare": read fast flying HUGE SEMI TRUCKS and I was feeling very skeeeered. The big trucks create this suck into the road affect and combined with the head/cross wind situation I was not happy. When we dropped into the bike path I was fine. Headwinds were still awful, but I felt safe and so I just plugged along thinking what a great experience the whole ride was for me and my "country road loving ways" lol. The high point of this ride was getting onto the 5 freeway bridge and overlooking the giant Hooters billboard. Kidding. It was seeing the 3 volcanoes so clearly snow topped against the blue sky: Mt. St. Helen, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. My new bike was giving me some big trouble with braking fast and I'm not "loving" it as much as my "old" bike.

Today, I went out with a group that was for the most part REALLY REALLY FAST (for me). The ride was advertised as "moderate", but a steady pace :). When I saw the ride leaders calves I was a bit intimidated. I thought he would make a fantastic anatomy model. I could see every muscle fiber and vein. He turned out to be a really great ride leader. He would sprint up and back to both lead and sweep. I would act like a big dork and try to catch him or follow his cadence while he just "cruised" and it was very challenging for me and my poor lungs (why did I abuse my poor lungs for so long--hindsight and all is a bitch).

18 miles into this lovely, pretty, flat, farm animal, country road, (complete with Emu's--I'll get to that distraction later) I was coming up to a stop sign and slowly tipped over. I nailed my left knee really hard on the road twisted my already twisted right ankle. Ouch my pride ;) Later, ouch my knee.

I always unclip on my right side, but I must have had something wedged in my cleat because when I went to turn out of my pedal my leg did a 180 and just still wouldn't unclip. Then as I still lean right I desperately try to unclip on my very unpracticed left foot. Umm, that didn't work. I just hit the ground now giggling like the idiot I am. I heard many jokes and laughed them off as I pointed out the Emu's to distract my riding group from my embarrassment.

So now I sit w/my leg up icing the perfect chicken egg of a bump that was once just a sore joint of a knee ;) and watching "Mean Girls". I'm so mature.