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Just a quick reminder to enter my giveaway to celebrate my 3rd blogging birthday!
Fall biking just hasn’t felt the same as summer biking, even though the weather has been pretty similar. Last fall, my first having a bike, was different in that I only rode my bike on open roads; I didn’t ride on the trails until this past June. I’m starting to realize that the trail is getting littered with more and more twigs, sticks, and leaves, and that definitely provides a different biking surface!
The biggest thing I’ve noticed is how many more bugs (gnats maybe?) there are in the air. The parts where I was in the woods on the trail were especially bad. Bad enough that they were flying up my nose, in my mouth, and in my eyes. At one point I had to even look down at the trail more than out, tucking my head so that the bugs would hit my helmet instead of my face. Disgusting, right?
I was in the woods for the first few miles, before popping out into the fields. It’s really crazy how much they are drying out.
Remember these beautiful fields? Yeah, they don’t really exist much anymore. Instead, this is now my view:
Pretty different, right? I actually think the dried out fields are really beautiful, and I’m loving that the same routes are giving me different scenery now!
On this ride I had a biking first! Back in 2012, when I first started biking after my decade long break, I was so unsteady that I couldn’t eat or drink while on the bike. In the fall of 2013, I finally conquered being able to drink on the bike (and put my bottle back onto my bike), and this summer I conquered eating shot bloks on the bike. This had been my goal since my first triathlon, when my cousin’s husband saw a picture of me drinking in the transition zone, and commented that I was wasting time and I needed to do that once I hopped on my bike. NOTED. So I’ve slowly learned to do each of those things as I’ve gained more confidence on the bike. So, on this ride last week, I took my first gel while biking. I had my gel in the back pocket of my jersey, and, while biking, I took it out, tore it open, ate it, and put the empty package back in my jersey pocket. A little thing, but HUGE for me nonetheless. Progress, right?
Beautiful sunshine on my ride
When I was about three miles from home, I hit a groove in the street at just the right angle, and I happened to only have one hand on my handle bars, as I was batting a bug away. I tipped over as I flew up in the air, and I thought for sure I was going to crash. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I guess I righted myself enough in the air, because I managed to land and get one foot on the ground quickly. Someone else was passing me at that moment and laughed as he went away, but I didn’t care. A year or two ago, that would’ve shaken me up enough that I would’ve biked SLOWLY home and probably not gotten back on it again for awhile. This was another situation that showed the progress that I made. I tried to shake it off quickly, and kept my pace as I headed home. There was never a thought in my mind to not bike again.
I actually had a really fantastic ride, and felt pretty solid throughout the entire 24 miles that I rode. Despite having to swerve more for sticks and being bothered by the flying bugs and crickets jumping on me, I had one of the strongest rides of the summer! Hey- I’ll take it!!
I feel REALLY really happy with where I’m at right now. I’m just so thrilled to have gained as much strength as I have over the course of the summer, and I really hope that I’m able to keep my pace up on my bike trainer this winter, just as I did this past winter.
For now, I’ll take my new accomplishment on my bike, and continue to enjoy the changing leaves and fields, even if I have to put up with gnats and crickets along the way!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s an accomplishment you’ve had recently?
The little things really do matter. Like you, this year was a year of firsts for me as well. I had to figure out how to eat on the bike and how to change a tire. Thank goodness I haven’t had to put that skill to the test yet, but someday I’m sure I will. Have you learned how to change a tire? Are you planning on riding your bike through the winter months, on a trainer? It seems you have come a long way and it will be exciting how this translates next year! 🙂