kentcowgill.org/blog

August 2:
I got out on my bike today. I had to raise the seat and attach the seat post rack to carry some tools, spare innertube, patch kit, wallet, phone, and my portable tire pump. But I couldn't find my portable tire pump, which made the tools, innertube and patch kit pretty worthless. Sure I could patch a hole or change the tube, but I still wouldn't be able to inflate the tire after fixing or replacing the tube. But I had spent so much time collecting everything and readjusting my bike, and my "Matthew's Nap Timer" was running out, so I just left it all attached and got on my way. Here's the route I took today:

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From my house to the turnaround, I took the longer path, and it's about 9.5 miles. I didn't measure the shorter route from where I turned around, but I'd guess it's about 8 miles. So today's ride was about 17.5 miles.

The rest of the day, I decided to do nothing. That's right, absolutely nothing. I think I was starting to experience some of the symptoms of overtraining - basically I was going all out with just too many activities. I also think it was a mistake to split the chin ups and push ups into separate days - each exercise uses much more of the same muscles than I would expect.

But on Sunday, I got out on my bike for a little longer of a ride.

August 3:

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From my house to the turnaround, it's about 12.5 miles. I took the exact same route both ways, so that makes today's ride about 25 miles.

Drawing the lines of the route in google maps is a little tedious. Maybe next weekend I'll stick to some easier to plot routes.

This is, of course, assuming I replace my tire(s?) by then. I have a giant bulge in my rear tire, with thinning rubber that looks like it's just about to pop. Thankfully it didn't while I was on the road.

I'm glad a random stranger stopped near me at a road crossing to point this out to me by asking me if I felt the wobble. Having no idea what he was talking about, I thought he was perhaps crazy. But after he pointed to my tire, I saw what he was talking about. And of course I felt the wobble (ok, it felt more like I was riding over a bump) from then on - in fact I could think of nothing other than how bad it felt, how could I possibly have not noticed it before, and exactly what position will my body end up in when I have a horrible wreck due to tire blowout.