Tuesday, March 24, 2015

I'm a Racing Car. Passing By LIke Lady Godiva.


So, remember how I told you that John got a new to him mountain bike? Well, we were finally able to take it out for a spin on Sunday afternoon.


Earlier in the morning, I was feeling exhausted. It could be that I overdid it a bit with such a long run and ride the day before, but there was a pressure system moving through and it could have been that I was getting a slight migraine. Either way, I decided to skip running and I fell asleep watching the professional bike race in Italy that was on John's computer (some would say that falling asleep while watching a long bike race was only natural).


I perked-up a little and we had lunch and both worked on our respective mountain bikes. I replaced my clipless pedals for flat ones. Some people wonder how I can constantly forget to clip-out, and other people who have met me and know how spacy I am, just wonder why I ever thought I could remember to clip-out.


Our local mountain biking trails were closed because they were too muddy and riding them messes with tree roots and the trails and who wants to basically sh*t all over their favorite place? Not this girl. So, we headed to Beverly Park in Cedar Rapids where there aren't so many roots and it's more open and tends to dry out more easily. Neither of us had ever been there before and it was awesome. It isn't as big or as technical or scary as the trails on Sugar Bottom, but they have a lot of fun things, like berms and skinny bridges with no rails that came close to scaring the poop out of me when I rode over them.

I also liked riding with my flat pedals. When I wore clipless pedals, I was so afraid I wouldn't clip-out when I was going up a steep hill or trying to go up on a rooted section, that I would just ride on the tops of my pedals which gave me no dig and on rougher sections, my feet would bounce off the pedals, so it was nice to wear the BMX style of pedals that have little metal things that rubber of my shoes cling onto, but if I need to put a foot down, I don't have to think about it. For now, I think I'll stick with them for mountain biking and even try them for CX and see how they work.


After about an hour and a half of playing, my legs were ready to pack it in. We headed home, showered, ordered a pizza and drank cocktails while watching "Beetlejuice". I could get used to days like these.

5 comments:

bribikes said...

Love the pictures of you flying down those trails, looks like fun!

churlita said...

It's a blast. I bet you'd love it after commuting in such crazy conditions all Winter. It would feel like nothing to you.

bribikes said...

Until this winter I would be way to chicken to do something like that. I was a very timid cyclist with frankly awful bike handling skills but I have gained tons of confidence over the past few months and I will definitely try out some off-road stuff this summer.

I am sure it will be still be a challenge though, I still have so much to learn :)

Churlita said...

You will love it. Just remember to stay far back on your saddle on downhills and anything that's too scary, you can just get off your bike and run, until you feel more comfortable.

bribikes said...

Thanks for the helpful tips!