Similar to a guy finding out, the hard way, that a moist shirt rubbing up and down on his nipples will bloody his marathon finish picture, I learned a few lessons a little too late. For example, did you know that many cyclists actually remove their sunglasses while tackling a steep ascent so that they can wipe the sweat from their eyes more easily? Sweat in the eyes, if you didn’t know, BURNS! Furthermore, the burning feeling leads to near-blindness (although temporary). Unfortunately, it wasn’t until hours AFTER my ride that I was given this nugget of golden advice.
Likewise was the bit of information about my saddle. Never in all the years that I had my other bicycles have I needed to check to see if I had a screw loose, although I’m sure many of you have suspected that this may have been the case from time to time. Quite possibly, this is because I never spent as much time on the road as I have in these past 2-3 months.
Still, it never occurred to me that the screws holding my seat level might have worked themselves loose over the past month. Yes, on the last weekend ride, when I felt like my seat was having it’s way with me in the most un-pleasurable manner and I experienced back pain once again, I immediately blamed it on the not-built-for-petite-women spinning cycles. It couldn’t possibly be from my beloved new saddle; I used a level to insure correct adjustment and checked it over and over.
So I spent 90% of my ride with increasing soreness to my back and female parts. By the time I’d ending the ride, I was ready for the sitz bath, one of those air-filled “donuts” you get after giving birth, and a glove full of crushed ice. Sadly, none of these items were available, so I reached for a beer instead. A few hours later my brother-in-law immediately noted how the tip of my saddle was pointing to the skies above (slight exaggeration).
*sigh*
There’s so much to learn… but I’ll get it.
Time & practice, the way we learn, since we are such creatures of habit. I’ve been running & training for races semi-serious since 2007 and I still find myself making rookie mistakes. Live and learn, right?
Ouch! Hope you’re feeling better today, Juls! Love the vibrams! :)
So true, Judy. Now that I’m returning to running, after the hiatus, I find that I forget the things were so routine before. I surely is a learning thing. Nobody can provide you with the full list of things you should know but perhaps someone will stumble across this post and learn from mine.
Fortunately, the pain was short-lived.