In 27 days I am doing a metric century (100km or 62 miles). Couple weeks ago I did a 35 mile ride that ended in a horrid experience of bonking and really made me question my ability to do the up coming century.
Today all that doubt was cleared up. I'd been having quite a bit of pain in my hand and shoulder (on my injured side). Everyone kept telling me it was part of getting use to being on a road bike. My friend Jillian had recently posted in her blog about bike fit and pain. So I followed her lead and took my bike in to the shop. The mechanic and I chatted, I sat on my bike, we tried a new stem extension, and chatted some more. We made a plan for getting my bike adjusted. As the mechanic sat on my bike he finally said something was wrong with my set up, but he couldn't put a finger on it. He looked and looked, and finally realized that my handlebars and the gear/brake mechanism had been installed wrong so my handlebars and hoods were in a catiwampus angle. He fixed that.
Today I road 40 mile (longest ride to date!) and NO pain!!! On top of the good news of no pain I felt so much more stable on my bike, especially as I got going fast. I also nailed my nutrition and hydration. Today gave me the confidence that I am completely capable of doing a 62 mile ride in a few weeks. I also finally had one of those rides that reminded me of being a kid on my bike. It was fun and freeing! I'm tired, but I feel fabulous and I am so freaking proud of myself at this moment for continuing to push myself to train and to get so far out of my comfort zone.
Looking forward to my next ride already!
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| The Rims - Getting close to home |
