Monday, April 03, 2006

Tried something new

Friday after work I put my bike in my car (figured it would be faster driving in traffic vs. riding in it!) and went back to the bike shop I bought the new seat from. The original sales guy was not there, so I talked with someone else. He wanted me to give the saddle another chance and fitted me correctly this time around – raised the seat post about a centimeter (that surprised me) and repositioned the saddle. Things felt better, but I told him he would hear from me on Sunday if things didn’t work out.

Well, they worked out.

Thank goodness!

Besides the saddle, I tried another new thing on Saturday. To those of you who do not bike, don’t be too grossed out. I didn’t wear panties with my bike shorts. Yes, bikers, I do know that it is not recommended to wear regular underwear with your bike shorts!! The thought of not has always kind of grossed me out! Well, I have to say it made a world of difference! Needless to say – my bum was feeling just fine after getting off that seat after 62 miles of hill training!

Now for some details on the ride. We met up at the high school in Magnolia and headed out around 7:30. The day was MUGGY. It was hot and humid when I left my apartment at 6:15 and it never got any better. At one point my temperature gauge read 100 degrees!! The day started out overcast, but after a couple hours the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful, sunny day. Tons of wild flowers and great countryside. We rode through Sam Houston National Forest and a couple small towns. Saw goats, cattle, horses, vultures and hawks. Saw a gorgeous bull – he was huge and gray in color. But his horns were what made him stand out. They covered the entire top of his head. I wish I had a camera (note to self – buy digital camera). I was hit by several very large bumblebees and numerous other bugs. But I didn’t eat any!! That is always a good thing! I only flipped off one driver (yeah, I know, bad girl), but I swore at many!! You just gotta love rednecks! I mooed at a lot of cows and made Juan laugh (my riding buddy for several miles). And one of the best parts was getting up to 34.3 mph on a down hill! WooHoo!!! I just love speed!

After the ride, quite a few of us waited in the parking lot drinking beers (or in my case Smirnoff Ices) and having a grand time. Thank goodness no cops came by. We could have gotten into some trouble!! Open containers, government property – that wouldn’t have been pretty!

After the final riders made it in we headed for lunch. Chimichanga this time with iced tea (the city we were in was dry, so no margarita – probably for the best).

After that I headed back to Houston. Stopped off at Memorial Park and joined the Houston Area Road Runner’s Association (HARRA) and after that it was home for a shower and change of clothes. Then it was off to a friend’s birthday party. Great way to end the day – good friends, more good food, and to top it off – cake!

Today, I got up, reset all my clocks, and eventually took off for a crawfish boil put on by one of my mentees from TNT. It was held at the picnic loop at Memorial park. The picnic loop consists of a 1.1-1.2 mile paved loop where lots of bikers come to ride. It is closed to vehicular traffic during the week, but on the weekends it is open so people can hold gatherings or just have a family picnic.

Anyway, there was crawfish (of course), shrimp, crab, sausage, corn, potatoes, mushrooms and assorted beverages (I was good and drank water). YUMMY!!

Midway through the meal we heard a crash and then screaming. A lady had been walking along the loop pushing a stroller. She stopped to check one of the front wheels and a biker hit her from behind. She was knocked to the ground, the stroller landed on its side and the biker crashed. The biker was fine, the baby was fine, but the lady was banged up quite a bit. The left side of her face was scratched up, her mouth was bleeding, but the worst was her shoulder and arm. She either broke her arm or dislocated her shoulder. Eventually the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital, and she was able to get hold of her husband who came and comforted her and picked up the baby. Hope everything turns out okay.

I went back to the picnic and finished chatting and visiting with people then came back home and pretty much lazed around the rest of the day. But tomorrow I will be good and go to the gym to work off all these calories I consumed this weekend!!

4 comments:

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Sounds like you had a fun weekend!

I'm afraid I'm not surprised about Stroller Lady, though. I'm very glad that everyone's okay, but I've seen ladies push their strollers on the picnic loop before and quite frankly, it always makes me wonder if they've just taken out fancy new life insurance policies on their kids or something. Some of those cyclists are zooming along at well over 20 mpb and with all the tight turns, you can't see what's around the bend until you're on it. Add to that the fact that the stroller-pushers don't always keep to the right, and you've got a recipe for trouble.

Of course, I wasn't there today, but that's been my general observation in the past. Not to be confused with any actual particulars of today's accident.

Oh, and as for the bugs on Saturday, expect more of the same on the Shiner ride in May! OMG! I think I called it "Road to Bugville" when I blogged about it last year!

Anonymous said...

Jill, I don't know if you did the 1488/149/105/1774 loop, but that is one of the hilliest loops in southwest TX as far as I'm concerned. I always fear for my life on the 149 portion though since there is absolutely no shoulder and 55mph traffic.

Sarah said...

I'm intrigued by the underwear/bike shorts comments. I've always worn it for the same reason -- seemed kinda gross not to. But if it is nice to not have it, I'll have to try it...

Erin said...

Sounds like a great weekend. I'm so glad you were able to make it to my party. I had a great time. :)

I had to laugh about the bike shorts/undies thing, but mainly because for the longest time my dad didn't know that you weren't supposed to wear them w/ the shorts. When he found out & stopped wearing the undies, he was AMAZED at what a difference it made.