Easy Ride

I am interested to get feedback on my ride today.  I worked really hard at not going to hard today.  Lol!  When the coach says ride like you’re riding with a 4 year old you have to try to keep it at an easy pace.  Gods know there were times I wanted to crank it up.  Todays course is a flat one and I really Road like I wasn’t going to hard.  

Plus, it was my second workout of the day.  I had already done a 35 minute walk with Clayton and Kona Bear.  Been a long time since I have done two workouts in one day.   A very long time indeed.  However, where I was exhausted this a.m. during the walk and the easy pushes and pulls we did, I was more awake and invigorated while on the bike.  I mean I exhausted right now.   Ready for bed at 3:30 PM on a Sunday afternoon, but still, for a little bit, I felt better.  I am generally worried about this tiredness.  I feel like I have been tired for the last month.  I can’t see to shake it.  I am going to the doctor in a couple of weeks and i will bring it up.  I will also do a better job of monitoring my food and what I use to fuel the machine.  Finally, I we will keep a watchful eye on stress.  I have not come this far to lose my health over stress at work.  I know I work a high stress job, but i am telling you right now no paycheck on this Earth is worth me losing my health, and happiness.   That thought is a story for another day, and we do have a plan and a strategy for that.  

So, something strange happened to me while I was preparing for my ride.  The first thing that I do before any ride is pump my tires with air.  I find it is just good practice and I love to ride on fully inflated tires.  I am also open of those anal retentive types, that really love to have the black plastic valve cap on his tires.  I know not everyone feels that way, but I do.  So, I always try to keep the black caps on the tube.  I also always pump up the back tire first.  Not sure why I always go back to front, it that is how I do it.  

So today as I was uncapping the back tire, the top of the valve came off with the cap.  Then I will be damned if the entire tire didn’t shoot air out of itself as fast as it possible could.  Kona looked over at the huge whooshing sound that came from the bike and we looked at each other dumbfounded.   I had never seen the top of a valve come off before.   I didn’t even now they could do that.  So, I stood there for a moment and was like oh well I can ride because my tube is broke.  Then I was like bill you know you can change your own tube.  Then, I just screwed the thing back in.  I screwed it in tight too.  It stayed.  So, I was like let’s try to pump this thing up.  I did it and it held air.  I was like that was interesting.  I screwed the black cap back on, but not as tight as it was before. 

So, I moved to the front tire.  I unscrewed the black cap and WHOOSH!!!!!  All the air rushed out of the tire.  I can’t tell you how many times I have pumped air into tires in my life.  It is a lot and never had I ever seen the top of a valve unscrew and are you shitting me, it did it on two tires in a row.  What the FRAK!  Well, knowing I could screw the thing back in, I did that.  Then I pumped it up and it held air and I put the black cap back on.  

Then I was standing there and was like did I tighten that one too much.  Let me see.  So, I started to unscrew it and i I will be damned if I didn’t hear another WHOOSH!!!  What the FRAK!  All the air was rushing out of the tire again.  Kona was looking at me like you dumb ass and while I had to concur with her.   I felt pretty damn dumb.  

I preceded to pump the air back into the tire.  This time I left off the black cap.  I made sure I have the tip of the valve screwed in really nice and tight.  I went to the back tire and I unscrewed the back cap and hoped it wasn’t to tight and thank the light it wasn’t.  So, now we are riding without the black caps.  I am still a little dumbfounded by what happened there.  

Anywho… so we went out and we rode.  It was good, clean fun.  I felt great out there.  Monitoring my HR making sure I didn’t go to hard.  I kept a close watch on that.  I don’t want to overexert.  

I can’t even begin to tell you how free and liberated I feel out on the bike.  Nothing compares to it.   Not lifting, not walking, not even swimming.  I feel amazing on the bike.  There is something about being out there and doing it that I love.   It is the ultimate form of freedom for me.   It is almost as good as the pool where it makes me forget the days worries.   Frak work!  Frak any other trouble.  Just me and the machine out there doing our thing.  However, having the wind in your face and working so hard, you just feel amazing.  Easy ride or not, today’s ride was awesome!!!  Really Awesome!

Oh just heard back from the Coach!  I did good today on my easy ride!  YAY!