May 10th (Afternoon) and May 11th (Morning)

May 10th (Afternoon)

Well, the trail-home-debut with the SPD pedals went pretty well. My overall times and speeds weren’t much different in the end than normal, but average numbers. These shoes do have a downside, though, and that is when I found myself walking up long steep hills. I found myself walking up on my toes, and therefore using different calf muscles than normal. But overall, I really enjoyed them. I had a couple “panic” exits and I managed to unclip in time, so that’s good. It shouldn’t be too long before I start unclipping without much thought anymore.

 

Heading down into Peterson’s creek, I didn’t make the first of the two troublesome switchbacks again. In fact, I really didn’t give it much of a chance, but jumped off before trouble could start. I think this is partly due to the fact that I am still not confident on this corner, coupled with the new shoes that I am not 100% comfortable with yet. However, the second switchback after that I unclipped and put my foot out and made it. So I’d say I missed 1-1/2 switchbacks down... :) Going back up was pretty good. I noticed my speed was a lot higher than I think I’ve done before, and I made it all the way into the sandy switchback (about 10 feet farther than Friday). I walked a maximum of 1/4 of the way, if even that any more. And still 4 stops, although I might say “3-1/2” really as on my last stop I didn’t really quit moving, but jumped off, walked a bit, and then jumped back on. Normally I would stop and catch my breath for a minute.

 

I didn’t make it even 1/2 way up the last peak at Rose Hill due to my chain jumping right off the ring when I tried dropping it down into the granny gear (this was one of my panic exits from my pedals). However, the rest of the trails were really good. I rode the pipeline all the way through to Juniper as well.

 

I guess 20° and sunny means “Come out and play”. Suddenly, after a few weeks of seeing pretty much nobody from Berwick to home, I passed two bikers going up out of Peterson’s creek, three joggers going across Frolek’s land, two more joggers just past Rose Hill, one hiker on the pipeline trail heading to Juniper, and two more bikers just minutes later. I guess after a few weeks of cloudy, cold and wet weather, people are chomping on the bit to get outside.

 

May 11th (Morning)

I had my first endo on this bike this morning!

 

I was coming out of Juniper, heading down the steep sections where I meet up with the trail network that runs me down to Valleyview. It is a narrow trail, probably about 6” wide, winding down the hillside of clump grass. If you aren’t sure what clump grass is, think of a smooth dirt floor, and then every 1/2 a foot there’s a “clump” of grass sticking out. The base of these clumps is very solid and unmoveable. So, as I was coming down this trail, I cut a corner too sharp and hit one of those clumps dead one. Instant stop. And over I went. Thankfully, I haven’t forgotten how to fall and landed on my shoulder and rolled. Granted, I rolled over my back pack, but it seems that only my pear suffered. After I stopped laughing, I got up to survey the damage. Other than dirt and grass stuck in various spaces on the bike, it was fine. Myself? Well, I scrapped off some skin on my knee and shin, but nothing bad at all. Granted, I ended up walking a couple of the steeper sections after that, but tomorrow’s another day!

 

My ride from TRU was again 2 minutes faster than my average of 28.5 minutes, so I do believe the pedals/shoes have a lot to do with that for sure. The sun was bright and warm, so I need to start looking at getting some sort of sweat band or something to keep it out of my eyes. I braved the street on Hillside from mall up and actually had no cars pass me until I was into Dufferin. So, my sidewalk stint is now less than a block, so that’s good (I don’t need a $110 fine right now). I was in 2:1 and 2:2 all the way up Hillside, so that’s getting somewhat better. The biggest difference I’ve been noticing lately is the fact that I have reserve energy left during my last climb up to work. The first month or so, my last climb was grinding and wheezing to the top, hovering around 95% of my available energy reserves. Lately, though, I’ve felt like I’m only around 75%, if that really makes any sense. In fact, Pat (a co-worker) came up behind me today and I raced him to the top (sort of, as much as a biker can race a car). So that’s really cool!