not so saddle sore

On Saturday morning I left my house at 9 am to ride to FH's house so we could go for a training ride. I had low expectations for the day. It was foggy and wet and so cold I wore my skiing fleece.

Things seemed even less auspicious when I realized I had forgotten to wear my helmet and bring my rain jacket. 2 miles into the ride I was taking a ramp onto the cherry creek trail when a rather large man walking up the ramp looked at me and started making pig noises while fondling his genitals. This continued as I exited the ramp onto the trail. I would have stopped to tell him to fuck off but it occurred to me it might be a sign that only crazy people would be out on the bike trail in such crap weather.

FH and I decided to do 40 miles (he ended up doing 38 miles and I did 48). Mr. Nuts kept anxiously jumping into the Ural side car perhaps hoping we would take him with us. He seemed pissed as we rode away from the house and he stood on the kitchen table watching us through the window.

The ride was nice, the weather cleared as soon as we started and I'm surprised how much work has been done on the bike trails since I last rode them. There could not have been a more perfect day for a ride. Both of us feel that we'll be okay on the ride as long as our asses get into condition for sitting in the saddle for long stretches.

When we got back to FH's house we decided that I should ride home and change while FH picked up some pho for dinner. At the tail end of my ride, near a homeless shelter and at a red light, I encountered a homeless guy on a bike. He challenged me to a race. I was like "dude, I can't race anyone, I just rode 47 miles". He said "well, you'd probably still beat me because you have a nicer bike" and I said "just the thought of pedaling fast makes my ass hurt" and he laughed. I told him about training for pedal the plains as we rode down the block to the next light. There was a group of about 20 homeless people on the sidewalk so I made a half hearted attempt at pretending to race my homeless guy. The homeless group cheered us on.

When we got to the next light, to make sure the homeless guy on the bike didn't follow me, I said "I have to go home now". He said "thank you for having a normal conversation with me" and rode off.

On Sunday I got an industrial sized seat for my bike and hurriedly installed it because I was supposed to ride 40 miles and it was already 2 o'clock (long brunch with my friend Cam, have to admit honestly I could have stayed at the brunch all afternoon talking). I realized a block away from the house I had not adjusted the seat right but kept riding because it looked like a storm was moving in. I got the seat fixed when I got home but can't ride today because of storms.

Oh, and a quick note here. I tried clipless pedals in 2003 for the first time and damn near killed myself. It was almost impossible to get my shoes clipped in, and when I did finally get them in they wouldn't come out (e.g. I fell down a 10 foot ravine and when a boulder stopped my downward progress, my shoes were still clipped into the pedals). Over the years I've had many bike friends (some of whom were competitive bikers) counsel me on clipless pedals but I could never get the hang of them.

FH installed some clipless pedals on my bike and adjusted them so that all I have to do is put my foot on the pedal and my shoes clip in. I still have to twist my foot a little to unclip but it just makes me wonder, and I won't list the 3 bike shops here, or my bike friends, WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TELL ME THAT I COULD ADJUST CLIPLESS PEDALS SO THAT THEY ARE SO EASY TO USE???????????????????

Okay, I'm over being mad. And huge thanks to FH for fixing up my pedals and making me feel like a less clumsy jew and less dorky bike rider (never going back to baskets).

Oh, wait a minute...I have a huge horrible seat on my bike now...oh well, guess I'll never be a cool biker...