In the morning, I applied Weed & Feed to the lawn – though I had to run out when I was about 2/3 done to to get a second bag. Brian went up to his parents’ house to help get their new grill up on the deck, then when he came back, we got changed, put our bikes on our new bike rack (he got one that straps to the hatchback of the car, rather than the kind that mounts on a hitch – so far it seems to work just fine, and it was only $40, as opposed to the several hundred it would cost to get a hitch and a mountable bike rack), and headed down to Newville to ride on the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail again.
This time, it seemed much harder for me than the last time. I had a heck of a time keeping up with Brian – in fact, I was behind him most of the time! And although I noticed him coasting quite a bit, I found myself unable to coast for more than a couple of seconds before I had to start pedaling again. I couldn’t figure out why I was having such trouble – I hadn’t really done that much more exercising, and I didn’t feel any more tired than usual. But by the time we got to eight miles, I was definitely ready to turn around and head back. And those last couple miles back were really tough for me! I was getting really discouraged, not to mention tired! I didn’t think I was that out of shape, but Brian was going along without any problem, and I was trying my hardest just to stay relatively close behind him.
When we got back to where we started, Brian said, “let me see your bike for a second.” He said he thought he heard a funny noise. So he looked at the back wheel, and lo and behold, the brake pad was rubbing on the wheel! Apparently when he put the rear wheel back on, after working with my inner tube the day before, he didn’t put it on quite right, so the one brake pad was rubbing against the wheel for the entire 16-mile trip! That certainly explained why I was having such a difficult time riding and couldn’t really coast! And while that did make me feel better mentally, it didn’t do anything for my physical condition – I was exhausted! So much so, in fact, that I even felt a little queasy. (I think the heat had something to do with that as well, although we were drinking water as we rode.) But I survived, and eventually after some Gatorade and a nice long shower, I started to feel more like myself. After a while, the only physical reminders of my ride (and which I still have today) were my sunburned shoulders (I wore a tank top but neglected to apply sunscreen :-() and sore buns. ;-)
So over the course of the three-day weekend, I rode about 30 miles! I'd say I'm doing pretty well for a novice bicyclist!
And that concludes my report of my Memorial Day weekend. You may now return to your regularly scheduled program... :-)
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